Lorain Licorice-Twist
by Isabelle Frost
Summary: Easter eggs aren't just chocolaty treats you collect on Easter morning. They're also hidden messages you find in video games. An example of an 'Egg' is Lorain Licorice-Twist. But when her game is threatened by a mysterious man she has to stop him before things get out of control and her game gets unplugged! (Before/During movie) TurboXoc
1. Easter Eggs

Her eyes slowly opened, registering her surroundings. There was nothing but void all around her.

A panic suddenly ripped through her. Where was she?

Then she suddenly froze, memories crackling at the back of her mind. She was aware.

She was aware of her red curly hair floating behind her like she was underwater. Black goggles held her hair back as though it was her hairband. Her bright red skirt flowed out around her like she was falling yet she didn't feel the sensation. She wore a lighter red tank top which was tight against her skin with a bright red cardigan thrown over that. She wore fingerless white gloves and red and white striped socks that looked more like the candy canes than anything else. On her feet were red high tops with white bottoms. Her blue eyes stared out in front of her at the black void that surrounded her.

More memories bubbled to the surface of her mind.

Licorice-Twist. That was her name. Lorain Licorice-Twist. Her mind swam with images from her childhood and long after that.

She had grown up in a small sugary town. Everything had been bright and colorful, like a rainbow. She remembered taking her father's go-kart out for joyrides in the middle of the night just so she could see the stars from the top of Ice-cream Mountain.

All the little things came swarming back. She remembered everything about herself. She loved racing and hated staying still. Could eat pound after pound of ice-cream and never tire of it. Despised sushi as a disgusting sin against food. Hated girly shoes, loved walking. Loved people, hated crowds. She remembered…everything. Including…her brother.

Lorain looked over to see her brother floating at her side. Her twin brother. Landon. Landon Licorice-Twist. His short red hair hung over one of his blue eyes. He wore a red leather jacket over a white t-shirt, red skinny jeans and a pair of red high tops. His eyes flickered open and he looked over at her, smiling warmly.

She smiled. She remembered smiling. She loved to smile. She remembered her parents dying in a car crash or fire and smoke. She remembered the fear she felt when they didn't come home that night.

Her nerves leapt as her feet found a solid sense of balance, letting out a squeak from the sudden weight on her shoulders. Trees. Bright, striped, candy cane trees. Jawbreaker rocks, long pink and purple vines, and a brown, cocoa dirt. Then the feeling of the void vanished and was replaced with the soft cheery music that could be heard off in the distance.

"Did you see that too?" Lorain asks as she pulls her red curls up behind her head and ties them off with a strip of licorice rope.

"The thing about mom and dad? Yeah…" Landon replies, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well…" His twin sister says, "Do you at least know where we are?"

They both look around at the twisting vines of laffy-taffy that hung from the candy cane forest that surrounded them.

"Looks like some sort of forest," Landon answers, reaching up to one of the laffy-taffy vines and breaking off a piece and sniffing it. His nose scrunches up, "It smells like candy."

Lorain takes some of the pink taffy and sniffs it as well before taking a bite. A smile pulls at the sides of her mouth, "Mm…it tastes so good!"

"It's made of candy," Landon mumbles to himself.

"I actually think _**everything **_here is made of candy…"

"Just give it a second," a muffled voice called into the trees around them.

"What was that?" Lorain asks, looking around them.

"Sounds like some dude," her sibling answered, now looking around for the source of the voice as well.

"Okay now wait until the intro starts," the voice again.

Lorain walked over to one of the candy cane trees and started climbing, swinging one leg up onto the closest branch and pulling herself up one branch at a time.

"What are you doing?" Landon says in fright that his twin would fall from the tree.

"Can it, Lanny," Lorain called down at him, pulling herself up onto another branch, being careful or the double-striped branches for the knowledge that they would break, "I'm just seeing if I can see where the voices are coming from…"

"Okay, just wait until the opening finishes. The programming might have messed with it," a different voice said but Lorain couldn't find its source.

The first voice found its way to them again "Okay…Now to make sure the Easter Egg is working."

"What's this idiot talking about?" Landon asked, looking up at the sky, "Eggs don't work…"

"What was it again?" The higher voice asked, moments later there was the sound of rustling paper.

Lorain turned her head quickly, looking over the horizon to see a racing track.

Her eyes widened, "Holy fudge…"

"Okay… Up, up."

Two high pings from the ground made the tree shake but Lorain gripped onto it tightly.

"Lori? Did you feel that?" Landon called urgently.

Lorain ignored her brother. Her eyes still locked on the racing track.

"Down, down."

Two more pings.

Lori's eyes shot over the track and that's when she saw them. Large glowing pink arrows that floated high above the track. Two up and two down.

"Left, right."

Two move arrows appeared above the track next to the others. One left and one right.

"Left, right," the voice repeated, and two more arrows appeared

"Gas," a revving sound filled the air and Lorain felt her heart race.

"Break," a screeching sound echoed through the trees and Lorain knew something amazing was about to happen.

"And…"

Grin spread across Lorain's face. She was waiting, almost urging for the last command to be given.

"Start."

Not a second after the huge yellow letters flashed across the sky did Lorain rocket into the air, her brother at her side. Then she was encased by bright lights and two faces appeared in front of her. She barely noticed the nine racers above her, staring down at her and her brother in confusion.

The giant faces laughed in delight, "There they are."

She stood in a box with only five sides and suddenly her box illuminated bright red and there was a revving of engines. Her box flashed brightly and Lorain spins quickly before pumping her fist high in the air.

Without telling her body to do so, she exclaimed, "Let's race!"

One of the faces grinned brightly, "I'll be this Lorain. You be her brother."

She heard her brother's voice but could not see him, "Let's get this thing started!"

Then her body flashed bright red, blinding her. When she was able to see again she found herself sitting in a bright red racing car. Her hand subconsciously turned the key and it roared to life. Around her were what looked to be children no older than nine years old.

She thrust her hand up high in the air and without commanding herself to do so she laughed, "Rev it up!"

The starting line above them gleamed brightly, shining golden lights across the track. Then bright pink numbers flashed across the starting line. A cheery man's voice called out "Five!"

Lorain climbed back down into her car and buckled up.

"Four!"

Landon revved his engine from beside her. His car identical to hers in every was except for the fact that his had a white stripe down the middle whereas Lorain's care was pure red.

"Three!"

"Who are you?" A voice snapped from beside them, "Why are you so big?"

Lorain looked over to see a girl with bleach blond hair and a strawberry top on her head as a hat. She wore bright pink clothing she sat in a brightly colored sucker themed car. Lorain smirked at her, feeling as though she was superior to this girl, "You tell me first, you little sucker-muncher."

The girl's face flared up pink in embarrassment, "I'm Taffyta Muttonfudge…"

"Two!"

"So who are you?" Taffyta asked, regaining her composure.

"Me…?" Lorain asks, turning back to the track, "I'm Lorain Licorice-Twist."

"One!"

"And you're about to eat my cocoa flavored dust," the licorice themed racer grinned, pulling her black licorice goggles down over her face.

"Go!"

All of the cars shot off down the track, engines roaring to life. The smell of cookie-tires burning made her heart pound, the sugary blood pumping through her veins.

Over the first jump she seemed to be at full speed, rocketing towards gumball gorge. The giant gumball machines rolled back and forth, threatening to crush the racers as they drove past. Landon floored it, zooming around the gumballs with precision and then one of the gumballs smashed into him and his car was flattened.

"Oh! Be careful Kenny, don't want to break our new toys before the kids even see them!" The man playing Lorain snapped.

Lorain shot towards a power up and ran into it, the words 'Sugar Rush!' shot across her eyes and suddenly a gauge on her car appeared reading the word 'nitro' in bright green letters.

Unconsciously her hand lifted up and she smashed her fist down on the button at her side, making her car barrel down the road, gaining first place within seconds. When the gauge reached zero the car went back to its original speed and zoomed up and around cake spiral. A car zoomed up at her side, a multicolored one with purple frosting and a girl in a green jacket. Her black hair was tied up with red licorice rope, sprinkles riddling her hair. On top of the girl's head was a red tiara. The princess.

The black haired princess giggled, "See ya red-head!"

Then the princess shot around the corner and up into the cannon at the top of cake spiral, shooting out towards Ice-cream Mountain.

Lorain had a new objective. Stay ahead of the princess at all costs. This girl was her only real competition.

Once again she moved without command, shifting gears and shooting up after the princess. Then Lorain heard the roar of an engine and looked in her rear-view mirror. Landon was hot on her tail.

"Glad you could make it!" Lorain chirped at her twin.

"Glad you could make it," one of the voices echoed her from behind the screen.

"Oh can it," Landon snapped.

"Oh can it," the other man responded, clearly not amused.

Lorain laughed, rocketing ahead toward the princess that had passed her moments ago. Suddenly something smashed into the back of her car and Lorain screeched as her car rolled off the road towards a bunch of signs that read 'road closed'.

Her car smashed through the signs and down the drop with a loud scream.

Landon shot ahead of her, chuckling as he drove ahead to catch up to the princess. He was actually catching up to the princess when…

"Whoa! Dude it's a secret passageway!" One of the voices cheered.

"What is?" The man that picked Landon asked.

"The road signs! It's just a thing to confuse you. It's actually a secret short cut to the rainbow bridge!"

"What?!" Landon and the man yelled at the same time.

Lorain shot over a ramp and landed far ahead of her twin brother. Her laughter echoed through the cave inside Ice-cream Mountain, which only encouraged Landon to drive faster.

But it was already too late. Lorain had passed the finish line, coming in second place only behind the princess. Lorain hopped out of the car and grinned, taking off her goggles and putting them back up on her head.

She stood there for only a moment until a silver trophy floated down in front of her and she took it graciously. Her first race ever and she had gotten in second place! She held the trophy to her chest and spun around in excitement before grinning out at the person on the other side of the giant window. She waved and grinned brightly, "Come back to Sugar Rush again soon!"

The man on the other side of the screen pressed something outside the window and she was suddenly jerked back into was dissolved into a bunch of pixels. Suddenly she was reassembled and clutched her hand to her chest in fright.

"What just happened?" Lorain sputtered, the silver trophy slipping from her grasp but she did not hear a sound for a moment and then it hit the ground with a distant thump.

The odd sound made Lorain twist her head to look at where she was. She was back in the candy cane forest, sitting on one of the upper branches of a candy cane tree. Landon was sitting on the ground, staring ahead at the trees blankly.

"Lanny?" Lorain called to her brother.

His head snapped up to look at her, "What…was that?"

"I…I don't know," Lorain swallowed thickly, sliding down the tree and landing on the cocoa dirt. The smoke rose from the ground and discolored her red high tops. A grin appeared on her face as she picked up the silver trophy, "But I liked it."

"Alright! Seems to be working just fine. They race fine, controls are working, and the Easter Eggs are hiding away in the candy cane forest. It's ready for gamers." One of the voices said.

"Gamers..?" Landon mumbled, looking over at his twin.

"I'm sure it is," the one said quickly before letting out a sigh, "The arcade's closed for today."

Lorain's brow furrowed, "Arcade…?"

"Was this the last update?" One of the voices asked.

"It should be," the other replied before adding, "Let's get going. See you next year, Litwak."

The final puzzle finally fell into place in Lorain's head, and she remembered it all. It was no coincidence that she knew practically everything she had to do. That she could drive a kart without flaw. It was not instinct, it was not taught, and it was not remembered. It was code. She was code. Those were not real memories in her head. It was just a backstory. There was never a sugary village, no car crash, no anything.

She was a character made out of circuits and numbers. Just a videogame.

Lorain looked at her brother who mirrored her distressed look.

"So mom and dad…?" Landon asked quietly.

"They…they don't exist…" Lorain's voice was all but a whisper.

"So…what now?" Her twin asked slowly, looking at his sister as she strode over to the opening or the forest that overlooked the racetrack.

"Now…" Lorain pulled her black goggles down over her eyes, grinning, "We race."


	2. 10 Years Later

Vanellope shoved Lorain's leg, "You suck! You know that?"

"I do not," Lorain laughed, rolling her eyes at the little princess.

"I can't believe I let you win again!" Vanellope whined, tossing her racing goggles off to the side of the track.

"Excuse me? You _**let**_ me win?" Lorain asked smugly.

"How else would you have won?" She asks obliviously.

"Maybe I won all by myself," Lorain answered, walking over to her car and wiping the cocoa dust off of her beautiful red sports car.

"I don't think so. I just wasn't in my element today," Vanellope mumbled, sitting on a stack of tires in Lorain's garage.

"Not in your element?" Lorain chortled, "Van, I'm twenty seven and you're nine. Of course I'm better at driving than you. Plus, I don't even race that often. It's only when the rare person puts in that cheat code that I end up actually racing. Give me a break."

Vanellope sighed, laying back and kicking at the tires she was sitting on, "Well it's some of the most fun that I have. Picking at you is fun."

They shared a laugh and Lorain rolled her eyes, wiping down her car with a rag before popping the hood.

"Plus you're the only adult here so I kinda like hanging out with you after we race," the princess avoids Lorain's look of pure amusement.

"Even if you don't win?" Lorain asks her, checking on the chocolate syrup tank to make sure it had enough fuel if she needed to race tomorrow.

"Even if I don't win…" Vanellope grumbles in defeat, crossing her arms.

"Aw," Lorain grins, ruffling Vanellope's hair with her elbow as to not get chocolate syrup in her hair, "Well I have to finish up here. Can you go tell Rancis that he left his toolbox in my house again?"

"Can't you do it?" She whined.

Lorain sent her a look and Vanellope groaned, "Fiiiiiiine…but only because you beat me in the last race." She jumped up from her seat on the tires and drug herself out of Lorain's garage.

"Whatever you say, Vanellope," Lorain smiles, wiping off her hands and closing the hood of her car.

Just to be sure, Lorain hopped inside her car and started up it. She just sat in the car, listening to the sound of the engine purring. Racing was just about her favorite thing in the world. She loved racing.

"Lori?"

The sound of a girl made her jump. Lorain looked up from her seat in her car to see Jubileena Bing-Bing in the archway to her garage. Lorain smiled at the girl, instantly turning off her car, "Hey, Bing-Bing. What's up?"

Jubileena pulled nervously at one of her red pigtails, "Um…Swizzle and I were wondering if you would want to come skating with us tomorrow morning before the arcade opens."

"Well I would love to. But don't you have to have a pre-race to decide tomorrow's racers?" Lorain asks, worrying about the girls' chances of racing tomorrow.

"We'll race before we go skating," Jubileena corrects herself.

"Then count me in," Lorain grins, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sounds great!" Jubileena grins, giving a wave, "Bye Lori!"

"See ya, Bing-Bing," Lorain says, smiling sweetly at the girl. She had always felt as though the racers were like her siblings. Little brothers and sisters that she looked after. She loved helping out Vanellope in any way she could, unlike her bother. Her smiled faltered.

Landon…

He didn't like losing. To him, coming in second was just as bad as coming in last so since Lorain or Vanellope were usually chosen by more experienced racers, Landon usually lost. So instead of living in the castle with his sister and Vanellope, Landon spent his time in the candy cane forest where he and his sister originally generated.

That's where he lived for the past ten years.

Just thinking of her brother mad her blood run cold. She shook off the feeling and turned back to her car, making sure everything was in order before she wiped the chocolate syrup off her hands onto a rag before tossing the rag onto her working bench.

Rancis Fluggerbutter raced into the room, "Lori? You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, you left your toolbox in here from when I worked on your car for you," Lorain says, nodding her head toward her workbench.

Rancis smiled and took the box off the work bench, "Sorry."

"Not a problem, Fluggerbutter," the licorice themed racer states, "Just try not to forget it next time."

"Okay, thanks," Rancis smiles, backing up towards the garage door, "Bye, Lori."

"Goodbye," Lorain responds as the peanut-butter cup themed racer left.

Lorain popped the collar of her shirt and walked over to the door to her garage, pressing a golden button just to the left of the door, making it slide closed. She gave a yawn, tired after a day of racing with kids that figured out what the cheat code was.

So quickly she skipped into her room which was just outside of her garage and plopped down on her red four poster bed, licorice twisting up the bedposts like vines. She clapped her hands and the lights turned off. Lorain snuggled up into the covers which were made of quilted candy wrappers before she closed her eyes and her mind was swept away to the void.


	3. Vanellope Who?

Jubileena puckered her lips as she finished tying up her skates. She hopped up to her feet, wobbling slightly before she slid onto the frozen lemonade pond just left from Ice-cream Mountain.

Swizzle Malarkey was next onto the frozen pond, skating circles around the jujube girl. "You really should be better at skating then that. You're practically out here every day!"

"Can it, Swizzle. This is harder than it looks," Jubileena snapped, her knees buckling slightly under her own weight.

Then her feet slipped out from under her and she squealed, falling backwards but ended up in the arms of Lorain as she glided onto the pond gracefully. She placed Jubileena back on her feet, "Hey guys."

"I was wondering if you were actually going to make it or not!" Swizzle joked.

"Thanks," Jubileena says, referring to Lorain catching her.

"No problem, Bing-Bing," Lorain says with a smile, spinning around in a circle before skating laps around the pond, "So are you guys in the roster for today's race?"

"Naw, I came in tenth," Swizzle grumbled, hands in the pockets of his blue jacket.

"Fifteenth," Jubileena mumbled.

"Sometimes I forget how many of you guys there are," Lorain laughs, smiling at both of them.

"Yeah…" Swizzle says, pushing his dark green hair out of his eyes.

"Well at least you guys have a chance to race unlike myself," Lorain attempts to make them smile, "I have to wait for some kid to enter the cheat code in order for me to get in a race."

Two pings echoed through Ice-cream mountain's chocolate peaks.

"What's what?" Jubileena asks, looking over towards the peaks of Ice-cream Mountain.

Two more pings.

"I think someone's entering the code…" Lorain says, nose scrunching up.

Then four more pings.

"Does that mean you have to go?" Jubileena asks; a pout on her little red face.

The revving of an engine.

"Yeah but I'll regenerate back here after the race," Lorain says, tapping the end of Jubileena's nose.

The screeching of someone putting on the brakes.

She sighed and rubbed her arm, "Okay…"

"I'll see you after this race," Lorain said, holding out her pinky, "I promise."

Jubileena links her finger in Lorain's, a smile on her face.

The word 'START' flashed across Lorain's eyes and in a flash or blue pixel's she was gone and on the playing screen.

She was perfectly still as she stared at the player, which was a young girl no older than seven. The girl grinned at Lorain and Landon, "It worked!"

Then the girl's eyes fell on Lorain. The girl's face lit up and she moved the icon on top of the box Lorain was in.

She pressed down on the gas petal and Lorain's box lit up bright red.

Lorain thrust her hand in the air, "Let's race!"

The little girl grinned as the game began to start. Lorain sat in her red sports car, across from her was Vanellope and on her other side was Torvlad Batterbutter.

As the countdown signaled Lorain readied herself to race. When the sign flashed 'Go!' her car shot out in front of the other cars immediately, the gamer may have been young but she was a great driver compared to some of the younger boys that raced. Vanellope was hot on Lorain's trail though, zooming up to Lorain's side and steadying herself as they raced side by side.

"The girl is good," Vanellope said, nodding behind her towards where the gamer was watching from.

"I know, she's a lot better than I first thought," Lorain smiled.

Suddenly Vanellope's car glitched bright blue and she shot ahead of Lorain a foot or two. The sudden burst of pixels made Vanellope yelp in surprise before her car swerved off to the side of the road and crash into a giant cupcake.

Lorain stared at where Vanellope had once been in shock. What had just happened? What was that blue glitch all about?

Lorain tried to focus on the road in front of her as she rounded the corner and shot out of the cannon towards Ice-cream Mountain. She hit the ground with a thud and the hydraulics bounced against the sudden force but her car stayed steady.

A man's laughter next to her caught Lorain's attention. She looked over to see a man in a purple jacket and puffy yellow shorts driving a white race car. A red bowtie under his chin and a golden helmet with a crown on top was perched on his head. The man was almost bald except for some grey hair on either side of his head.

"Who are you?" Lorain asked, circling around the corner of the mountain.

"I'm King Candy!" The man grinned, "Hoo hoo! Have some candy!" He threw a handful of candy in Lorain's face, blinding her.

She shook her head and tried to hold the car steady but it rolled off the side of the track and into the Ice-cream snow. She regenerated a moment later and her car took off in the same direction as the man that claimed to be named 'King Candy'.

When she arrived at the finish line, King Candy had already passed the finish line and Lorain was presented with a silver trophy. She stared at the odd man and her nose scrunched up, "Where did he come from…?"

Lorain began to flash, her pixels pulsing. King Candy looked over at her and smirked just as she was flashed into a different room in front of the window. The little girl smiled at Lorain.

Lorain put on a huge grin, "Thanks for racing with me! Come back to Sugar Rush again soon!"

The little girl smiled, reaching out and touching the window, "I will."

Lorain couldn't help but smile at the little girl, suddenly noticing a golden necklace around her neck with the name 'Melanie' written in cursive in bright gold letters.

"I had fun, Melanie," Lorain smiles brightly.

The girl's grin grew, "You know my name?"

The smile on the little girl's face made her smile, "Thanks for racing with me!" Then Lorain flashed and her pixelated form flashed back to the frozen lemonade pond.

"You're back!" Jubileena grins, wobbling slightly as she skates over to Lorain.

Lorain looks at Jubileena and her brow furrows, "Hey um…do you know who King Candy is?"

"Well, yeah," Swizzle says as if it was obvious.

"He's our king? The ruler of Sugar Rush?" Jubileena says, slipping and landing on her butt before looking up at Lorain, "Where have _**you**_ been for the past ten years?"

"No…Vanellope is the princess. She's the ruler of Sugar Rush…" Lorain says in confusion.

"You mean the glitch?" Swizzle's nose turns up.

The word irked her._** Glitch**_. Vanellope was a wonderful ruler. She was no glitch.

"What are you talking about?" Lorain snaps, scaring the boy into jumping backwards and landing on the frozen lemonade with a thud.

"King Candy rules Sugar Rush just as he has since our game was plugged in. Vanellope has been a glitch ever since we were plugged in. You know all that already!" Jubileena says, climbing to her feet slowly.

Lorain felt a fear consume her. Where was Vanellope?

"I'm sorry about that guys but I really have to get going," Lorain says, slipping out of her skates and throwing on her high tops before running towards the castle.

"Lori, where are you going?" Swizzle yells after her.

"I thought we were going to skate all morning?" Jubileena calls, slipping once again and landing on her butt, "Lori?"

But Lorain was already too far away to hear them.


	4. No one

When she reached the castle and opened the big double doors, pushing her way into the sea foam green main room only to find that it was not the princess's favorite color. It was pink. Many shades of pink.

"What's going on?" Lorain asks herself, looking around the room.

"Whatever do you mean?" A voice asked from behind her.

Lorain turned to the throne and saw King Candy sitting in his race car. His crown sitting on the top of his bald head.

Licorice-Twist glared at him, "What did you do with Vanellope? What happened to the castle? Why can't the other racer's remember the princess?!"

"My goodness," King Candy chuckles, hopping out of his car-throne with a ping, "What seems to be the problem, Lorain?"

"You're my problem, you little cavity!" Lorain snaps, marching over to King Candy who was quite a few inches shorter than she was. When she got over to him she poked him hard in the chest with her finger, "What did you do to Vanellope's game?!"

King Candy didn't seem fazed as he smiled at the girl, "I believe you mean _**my **_game, my dear."

"No. I meant _**her **_game!" Lorain hissed, stomping her foot.

"Quite the temper you got there," King Candy smirked at her.

"Where is she?!"

She was losing her patience with this man.

"Ask nicely," King Candy smiled sweetly at her.

Lorain glared at him, eyes narrowing in pure rage, "I will do _**no**_ such thing! You will fudging tell me right now!"

"Language my dear," King Candy was his finger disapprovingly.

"I don't give a fudge!"

Lorain growled, grabbing King Candy's collar and lifting him off the ground and up to her height. His feet dangling half a foot off the ground, his eyes wide in fright.

"Now tell me where the princess is, or so help me, I will beat the Figgie-pudding out of you!" She was beyond enraged at this point. She was so mad her face was turning bright red.

His voice was shaky but he didn't show the fear he felt, "I-I hate to break it to you but there is no princess. Just m-me. King Candy! Hoo hoo! Guards!"

Not seconds after his fearful cry, two policemen came into the room. One was an éclair and the other was a doughnut. Both of them looked at King Candy as Lorain held him up by his collar.

The éclair pointed at them, "King Candy's in trouble!"

"What? You guys are under his spell too? What's wrong with you guys?" Lorain whined, shaking King Candy, making the bells on his shoes jingle violently.

"Get her!" The doughnut cried.

Lorain was stunned for half a second before she threw King Candy at the policemen that were coming to attack her. They all landed in a pile on the floor so Lorain took this as a chance to make a break away. She darted out of Vanellope's castle and headed down towards the race track.

She noticed a group of cars at the starting line but then suddenly there was a clicking sound of metal sliding against metal.

'Quarter Alert!' The announcer for the game called out.

"Wait!" Lorain screamed after the kids.

They all vanished with their cars in a flash of blue pixels. Lorain screamed in rage, running as fast as she could, hoping to get away from the fatty pastries they called police officers.

"Get her!" King Candy's lispy voice echoed across the candy kingdom.

Lorain dared to look over her shoulder to see the police gaining speed as they ran after her.

She suddenly felt her feet get knocked out from under her and she lands face first onto the cocoa track. She pounds her fists into the ground, "Mother Hubbert that hurt!"

She rolled onto her back and looked down to see Sour Bill on the ground completely dazed.

"Bill!" She grabbed the warhead into her arms and scrambled to her feet, "What's happening? Where's Vanellope? You're her assistant! You should know!"

Sour Bill looked frightened, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I work for the King! King Candy!"

Lorain dropped to her knees, her head pounding. She was so confused! Where was Vanellope? Where did King Candy come from? Why was she the only one that seemed to remember the rightful ruler of Sugar Rush?

Both of her arms were grabbed and she was hauled back to the castle. She just lay there limply, not even bothering to put up a fight. She didn't fight when they took her down into the Fungeon. She didn't fight when they locked her away in one of the darkest cells. She knew she would be fine. Vanellope would come and save her when she found out what was happening. Vanellope would help her. She was the princess. She would help her.

Lorain's eyes stared blankly at the colorless walls of the Fungeon. Her voice came out in a soft whisper of a fearful cry.

"…Help me…"

She didn't know who she was calling out to. She didn't know who would even hear her. The only thing she knew was that someone would save her.

Someone would save her.

Someone…

But who would look for her when all the racers were stuck under King Candy's trance?

Lorain chuckled darkly at her pointless thoughts before he answered her own question.

"No one."


	5. Thank you, I guess?

How long had she been in the Fungeon? Hours? Days? Weeks? Lorain didn't know. The sun couldn't be seen from her cell so she couldn't tell how many days had passed.

Lorain sat in the far corner of the cell, rocking back and forth, listening to the soft humming and buzzing of the dim light bulb that hung from the center of the cell.

She was dying of dehydration.

She knew that because it had already happened once. She had been in the cell to long without water and had died, regenerating in the same spot not moments later, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Now she felt it happening again. The dry feeling in her stomach, feeling as though it was eating away at itself from the inside out. She wanted to cry but she was so dehydrated that no tears would come. She just sobbed shaky coughing sounds every few moments. She wanted to die. She wanted to die and never regenerate. Anything to end the pain she was feeling.

Suddenly a jingling sound snapped her dry eyes up from the floor and over to the door. It slowly opened and King Candy bravely stepped inside without a guard in sight, closing the door behind him.

"Are you stupid?" Lorain spit out in a raspy voice.

"You can't do anything to me now. I'm not afraid of you," King Candy smirked down at her as she sat on the floor, unmoving.

"I beg to differ," she hissed before coughing a few times. She inhaled as hard as she could, bringing the dry air into her cracked lungs. Fire ripped through her body and just as the pain became too overwhelming it stopped. She opened her eyes to see a frightened king Candy standing under her newly regenerated body. Her old body flashed once or twice before it vanished into a burst of pixels, "Now what, Fun-size?"

King Candy raised a finger and opened his mouth as if he were going to speak before he took off outside of the cell, slamming the door behind him.

"Too scared to fight me?!" Lorain yelled at him, fed up of being locked in the cell.

There was movement in the barred window on the door of her cell and then she heard the bells on his shoes jingle away as he left. Lorain strode over to the door, ready to yell after him but stopped when she saw the package of licorice and some sugar water on the windowsill. She took them slowly into her hands, turning them over as if they were a mirage.

Then she looked outside of the window and a warm smile formed on her face despite how angry she was, "Thank you…"

Yet she was unaware that King Candy sat outside of her door listening to her every move, a content smile on his face. When he heard her walk away from the door he slowly rose to his feet and silently walked down the hallway, wondering to himself as to why he had reached out to the girl just now? Why had he comes down to give her the food and water in the first place?

King Candy shook his head and quickened his face, the bells on his shoes jingling slightly as he went.


	6. Princess to the Rescue

Lorain greedily ate the licorice and downed the sugar water. It was heaven to her dry taste buds.

"_Psst_."

Lorain looked around to see where the voice came from.

"Hey, Lori. I'm gonna get you out of there," her voice drifted through the walls of the cell.

"Vanellope…?" Lorain asked slowly.

"Quiet, Lori. Lord Puffy-Pants might hear you," Vanellope snorts, glitching through the wall and appearing in the room with Lorain.

Just the sight of the young princess made Lorain sob quietly, pulling the girl into her arms. This girl was proof that Lorain hadn't gone insane. She snuggled the princess close to her, "I missed you, Vanellope…"

The little girl blushed in embarrassment, shoving at the older girl's arms, "Okay, okay. I got it. But we gotta get going. He could be back any minute."

"Right," Lorain says with a sad laugh, wiping her eyes, "I'm sorry. I just thought I was going insane in here."

"No problem, really. But we have to go!" Vanellope urged, holding out her hand to Lorain, "I'll glitch us out of here."

Lorain takes her hand and Vanellope stands close to the wall, her body glitched bright blue and they both snap and crackle through the wall, appearing just outside of the castle.

Lorain gapes at the girl but Vanellope urges her on towards the garage, "Come on! Get your car and let's go!"

They both run into the garage and hop into Lorain's two-seater sports car.

The engine roared to life and Lorain began driving off in the direction Vanellope pointed in, "That way! Towards Diet-Cola Mountain!"

As the car zoomed off towards their destination, King Candy stood at a window in his castle, overlooking the candy kingdom. He saw the car and yet no attempt to stop them. He had no need to bring the licorice girl back here. It would only attract the glitch, and that was something that he didn't want to do.

The glitch.

He shivered just at the thought of the retched girl.

'Quarter Alert!' The announcer called.

King Candy pulled his goggles down over his eyes and he turned to look at Sour bill, "Be sure that the glitch stays away from the kart factory. Be sure she never races ever again."

"Yes sir…" Sour Bill says in a scared yet monotone voice.

King Candy then stalked off towards the double doors of the castle but paused before he left completely. Glancing over his shoulder he added, "What did you think of the licorice girl?"

"Lorain?" Sour Bill asks, slightly confused.

A smile tugged at the corners of King Candy's mouth, "Yes. Lorain." Her name rolled off his tongue smoothly, a hungry look in his eyes.

"She's a nice girl," Sour Bill says, still confused, "Got quite the temper on her. Not as bad as her brother though…"

"Brother?" King Candy asked him, confused.

The music to signal the race sounded.

Before Sour Bill could answer, King Candy spoke, "We'll speak more of this later."

Sour Bill watched as King Candy vanished, taken to the screen where the gamer could choose which character they wanted to be.

The warhead's eyes fell to the floor. Not wanting to think about the things King Candy may do to Lorain if he found her.

* * *

_**A/N: Little update. The chapters are going to be a bit shorter as of right now but they're also going to be a bit more frequent. Also, don't forget to review!**_


	7. I Can Fix It!

Lorain and Vanellope had arrived just outside of Diet-Cola Mountain when Lorain's car came to a stop.

Lorain jumped out of her car, not bothering to use the door before she spun around to Vanellope, "It's so good to see you again, Van! What happened to you?"

"I don't know what you mean…" Vanellope says, rubbing her arm as she jumps out of the car.

"Of course you know what I mean! We've spent the last ten years living together in the castle and today after the first race you were just…gone!" Lorain says, staring at the girl incredulously.

"What are you talking about, Twist?" Vanellope's nose scrunches up, "Sure I see you around now and again but never have I set foot in_** his**_ castle…I don't know where you got that crazy idea from."

Lorain's smile dropped and she fell to her knees, "My god…it really has happened…hasn't it?"

"What's happened?" Vanellope asks, sitting in front of Lorain on the cocoa ground.

"I…" The licorice themed racer trailed off and just shook her head, "It…it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you're safe."

"Safe…?" Vanellope stares at her, "What's up with you today? I mean, one day you're fine with chillin' at the candy castle and the next you're ready to beat the Figgie-pudding out of King Cavity."

If it had been under any other circumstances, Lorain would have laughed at the name she had given King Candy but now was not the time to laugh.

Lorain pulled off her goggles and tossed them into her car, "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm going to fix it Vanellope. I promise you, Van, I can fix it."

Vanellope giggled.

Lorain's nose scrunched up, "What's so funny?"

"You sounded like Fit-It Felix," Vanellope smiled at the girl she had mentally dubbed as her big sister.

Lorain went to roll her eyes but stopped. She turned to Vanellope with a grin, "That's it! Maybe Felix can fix this mess." Lorain climbed to her feet and runs over to her car.

"I have no clue what you're going on about, but okay!" Vanellope cheers with equal enthusiasm and jumps in the passenger seat.

The car's engine revs and they take off toward the Rainbow Bridge that led to Game Central Station. The drive was quick, however when they got to the mouth of the tunnel Vanellope got a bad feeling and looked over at Lorain, "Stop the car."

"What gives, Van?" Lorain asks, pulling the car to a stop.

"I dunno…I just have a really bad feeling…" Vanellope hugged herself and got out of the car, walking over towards the entrance but stopped before she actually went inside.

Lorain was at her side in an instant and she looked down at the younger girl, "What's wrong?"

"I think…there's something there…" Vanellope says, looking around the arched mouth of the tunnel. Then cautiously she raised a hand and reached out towards it. An invisible barrier pulsed blue before snapping back at her hand, giving her a jolt of electricity.

Vanellope shrieked in surprise, falling backwards onto her butt.

"Vanellope!" Lorain says in shock, reaching out and helping her up as she kneeled down to Vanellope's level, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Vanellope snaps, looking away from Lorain and ripping out of her hands and she walked over towards the car.

Lorain's eyes eased and she sat on the ground, "You don't have to act all tough around me, Vanellope…"

Vanellope looked over at her with a glare, but doing so showed the tears that had glossed over her eyes. Her bottom lip quivered and her whole body shook slightly.

Lorain held out her arms, inviting Vanellope over to her.

Then the tears spilled over and Vanellope raced over to Lorain, hugging her arms around Lorain's neck. She sobbed into the crook of Lorain's neck and Lorain hugged her tightly. Vanellope never really opened up to anyone the way she did with Lorain.

Lorain rose to her feet and carried Vanellope over to the car. She opened the door and sat down in the driver seat, her legs dangling out the open door. Her hand rubbed calming circles on Vanellope's back, "You're okay, Vanellope. I'm here…"

"Why c-can't I leave the g-game…?" Vanellope sobbed.

Lorain shrugged, "I'm not sure, Van. But if I can get to Felix he might be able to help."

"O-Okay…" Vanellope sniffled, wiping her eyes.

The older girl rose to her feet and she turned around, placing Vanellope in the car, "I'm going to find Felix. You stay put."

Vanellope nodded and sniffed, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweater, "Okay…hurry back though."

"I will," She smiled at Vanellope and her smile made one crack onto Vanellope's face.

Lorain turned to the tunnel and was on edge as she carefully walked through the invisible barrier that had stopped Vanellope. She gave one quick glance back at Sugar Rush before she took off into the tunnel, hoping she could find some way to save the little girl that so desperately needed her help.

* * *

_**A/N: Do not fret my friends! The romance with come eventually. Lorain can't resist King Candy's charm forever. But it will take a little while for her to actually warm up to the man the took over her 'little sister's game...so yeah! If I had to make a guess it first fluff with take place in chapter...9 or 10, maybe? But that will be pretty soon anyway. Thank you for reading and remember to review!** _

~Isabelle


	8. Misplaced Princess

Lorain sat in the train that lead from the game-port to Game Central Station, impatiently looking around and searching for come way to make the painfully slow train move any faster. But eventually she arrived and jumped out of the train, pulling the hood up on her red cardigan. Lorain looked around her as she walked into the grand room. People were everywhere but she knew very little of them. She knew of Fix-It Felix because it was across the room from hers. She would see him fixing the building every day she would appear on that main window. She then got to personally meet him at the Sugar Rush anniversary party that Vanellope had thrown at DDR a few years back.

Now it was time to go and see him once again. Lorain attempted to dodge through all of the people that rushed around her but accidentally bumped into someone, making her fall back onto her butt, "Oof!"

"#~*$ ?/"

Lorain looked up and smiled, "Hey Q-Bert. Sorry for bumping into you there." She helped the little creature back onto its stubby little legs and patted his head, "How're you doing these days?"

"%$&&*^%#" Q-Bert responded, looking at the floor.

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that," Lorain says, standing to her feet, "I hate it when good games get unplugged. It's good that you made it out safely though."

Q-Bert nodded sadly.

Lorain tapped her chin and then smiled, reaching down and ripping off a strip of her skirt. She held it out to him, "Here, its licorice. I know it's not much but I can't do any better at the moment."

Q-Bert smiled and gave a nod, " #$%%^&!"

"No problem buddy," She gave him the licorice and shoved her hands in the pockets of her skirt, heading off towards Fix-It Felix Jr.

She arrived at the game-port and looked around before dashing inside and hopping onto the rinky-dink train. It teetered down the track and Lorain grew impatient. Her train was one thing but this train was a whole different story. Then slowly it arrived at the station and she hopped off, looking around at the extremely pixelated world.

"Cool…I've always liked 8-bit games," Lorain grinned at the tall building.

"Lorain! What are you doing here?" Felix scolded, "It's during hours! You should be back at your own game! What if someone enters that cheat code?"

"Then my brother will appear and I won't. They'll just think they entered the wrong cheat," Lorain waved it off before she looked at Felix pleadingly, "Felix there's a problem with my game and I_** really**_ need your help."

"What's the problem, Lori?" He asks, realising how serious it was.

"The coding in my game is fried. Something happened and all the characters are messed up," Lorain says urgently.

"My lands!" Felix says before looking torn, "I'd love to help but it's during hours. I could stop by afterhours if you'd like?"

"Quarter Alert!" The announcer called.

She gave a smile, a sense of relief washing over her, "Thank you, Felix."

"No problem," he saluted her and then hopped off towards the building.

Lorain wasn't nearly as impatient on the drive back to Game Central Station as she had been on the way there. It seemed that it took not even close to as long to get back to her game and soon she stood back on the rainbow bridge but the sight that lay before her made shock take her over.

Her beautiful car had been dented in on the driver's side. The window on the door was cracked but not shattered. But it wasn't the car that she was worried about.

"Vanellope!" Lorain wailed, running over to the door to throwing it open. The door creaked under its own weight and broke off, raising sparkly dust from the bridge.

Lorain frantically searched for the girl but it was no use. The princess was gone.

She dropped to her knees and let out a sob, her hands covering her mouth and nose. Yet something on the ground caught her eye and she picked it up into her hands. It was a note written in icing.

_**If you want her back, come to the castle alone.**_

_**~K. C.**_

Lorain shrieked it rage and crumpled up the paper, tossing it over the side of the bridge and into the forest far below. Then she got to her feet and jumped in her car, revving the engine loudly and pulling on her racing goggles and flooring it down towards the castle.

Why did he kidnap the princess? What was he hoping to gain from all this?


	9. Why?

King Candy took off his racing goggles, marching up towards his castle.

He threw open the doors and searched out Sour Bill who stood just beside his throne.

"Sour Bill?" He calls into the castle, his lisp distorting some the words.

The warhead turned to him slowly and in a monotone voice asked, "What it is sir?"

King Candy took a seat on the hood of his car that made of the throne, "Tell me about the girl."

"Which one?" Sour Bill asks.

King Candy glares at him, "You know which girl I mean."

"Vanellope?" Sour Bill asks, hoping to buy some time as to keep Lorain safe.

"Lorain," King Candy's eyes narrow, "Tell me about the licorice girl."

"She and her brother are Easter Eggs," Sour Bill answered.

"Easter Eggs…" King Candy mutters to himself, looking at the bells on his shoes.

"Secrets that can be unlocked in-"

"I know what an Easter Egg is!" King Candy snaps, cutting off Sour Bill and making him jump.

Sour Bill stared at him with wide eyes.

"…sorry." King Candy mutters, thinking something over in his head, "So…maybe that's why…" His eyes grew as everything snapped into place. That's why she remembered. Her memories were in a different coding system entirely. She wasn't a racer or a citizen of Sugar Rush. She was an Easter Egg. Her memories were locked away in a different location, "That's it…"

"What's 'it', sir?" Sour Bill asks.

"Nothing, continue," King Candy says, setting aside his realisation for now so he could learn more of the Licorice girl.

"Well…she's a lot older than the other racers. She's…twenty two I believe…" Sour Bill says, thinking it over in his head.

He gave a nod and urged the little warhead to continue.

"She's got one of the fastest cars on the track so she usually wins every race that she's in," the warhead adds, "She's a very good racer."

"Except when she's against me," King Candy smirked to himself.

Sour Bill went silent for a moment and then continued, "She lives at the castle while her brother chooses to live in the forest where they originally spawned."

King Candy mentally took note of that. Might be useful for later purposes.

"What is she like?" King candy asks, shifting his weight on the hood of the car.

"Mostly mellow and easy going. Always makes perverted jokes around the kids though," Sour bill mutters, "Don't know what she's thinking, saying that sort of stuff around children. Anyway, other than that she has a really short temper and gets angry easily."

"I say that already," He mutters, remembering how easily she had yelled at him, and he hadn't even done anything that bad to her yet.

"Very competitive girl, though," Sour Bill says, "But always safe when it comes to the other racers. She's always careful they don't get hurt."

"Hm…" King Candy says, thinking something over. Then he grins and looks over towards the warhead, "Go tell Duncan and Wynnchel to get me the glitch. Lock her away in the Fungeon in the high security room, don't want her glitching out of there like she did with Lorain."

"Why, Sir?" Sour Bill asks.

"You said she's protective of the other racers, right? Well I just found a way to bring the licorice girl to me," King Candy smirks.

Sour Bill hesitated a moment before bowing and turning to walk away, "Yes, Sir."

* * *

**_A/N: This is the last chapter from King Candy's POV but the next chapter is up as well so don't be sad!_**


	10. Maybe I like you

Lorain skidded to a stop just outside the castle doors and pushed them both open with great force. She stormed inside and glared at King Candy, who sat smugly on his throne, "Where is she?!"

King Candy tried to push his luck, "Who do you mean?"

"You know who I mean, _**your highness**_," Lorain sneered angrily.

This brought a smirk to King Candy's face, "Hm…"

"Tell me right now!" Lorain yelled, her nose scrunching up.

King Candy's smirk shrunk into a smile and he rose from his throne, looking over at her, "That's cute."

Lorain looked at him in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

He walked over to her and looked up at her face, "The thing you're doing with your nose."

Her nose immediately turned back up and she glared at him, "Stop doing that!"

"Stop doing what?" He asked innocently, eyes half lidded.

"That!" She snapped, poking him in the chest with her finger.

"I don't know what you mean," He answers, taking a step closer.

She stepped back from him and let out an exasperated sound, "You're getting all flirty with me! It's creepy! Stop it!"

"Creepy?" He asks, taking another step towards her, "Oh, no, I think you like it."

"Like it!?" Lorain's eyes widened in shock and anger, "Why would I like it, you disturbed little-mph!"

She was cut off when King Candy jerked her towards him, bringing them into a tight lip lock. She was stunned for half a second and then rage boiled inside of her and she whipped her arm back before slapping him hard across the face. His whole head jerked to the side, a wave of red pixels jumping from the spot she hit. As the wave move out it transformed him into a man with grey skin that wore a white and red jumpsuit. The pixels began to fight against each other, changing him from one form to the other constantly before it settled on the man in the jumpsuit.

Lorain's eyes widened as he slowly turned to look at her with yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the low light of the castle.

He glared back at her, "You really shouldn't have done that."

Lorain's whole body froze and she was unable to move. She knew that look from somewhere. As he glared at her it suddenly sunk it.

"Turbo…?"

When a smirk cracked across his face she knew she was right. Turbo was back and now it wasn't Road Blasters that he was trying to take over. It was Sugar Rush.

He raised his hand to smack her back but the doors to the room flew open and Turbo glitched back to his King Candy form before he had been seen.

Wynnchel walked in, an unamused look on face, "The glitch won't stop her screeching."

"King Candy wants to let her go," Lorain says immediately.

"What?!" King Candy hisses, "No I-"

"Either you let her out or your secret goes viral," Lorain smirks at him, knowing she had the upper hand on this one.

This made King Candy snap his mouth shut. Then he glanced at Wynnchel out of the corner of his eye and growled, "Bring the glitch to me."

Wynnchel gave a nod and waddled out of the room the best he could with his oddly misshapen body.

When the doors closed King Candy glared at her, "You think you're so smart, don't you, Toots?"

"Mmhm," Lorain smiled, "I dare you to try and put her in there again, I fudging dare you."

King Candy's nose scrunched up and she smirked.

The doors opened and Vanellope burst into the room, running over to Lorain and latching onto Lorain's legs, "Lori! You saved me!"

"Yeah and now we're even," Lorain smiled, plucking the girl off her legs and lifting Vanellope into her arms so she could hug her, "Let's get going, huh?"

Vanellope nodded and turned to King Candy, sticking out her tongue. Lorain set her down and Vanellope ran out to the car, leaving Lorain behind her.

Lorain glared at Turbo, "Don't you ever touch her again."

"Okay I won't touch her…"King Candy stared at her, a smirk pulling at his face, "…but you never said anything about touching you."

Lorain smirked back and rolled her eyes, her inappropriate side getting the best of her. Then she turned her back to him and walked towards the double doors, "We'll see."

King Candy couldn't help but grin smugly at that.

Just before she went out the door she turned and nodded towards him, "See ya, Turbo."

His smug look instantly fell, making her grin as she disappeared out the door.

King Candy shook his head, clearing his thoughts, what had gotten into him? He had to stay focused. Get in the girl's head. Figure out what code to enter to unlock her and her memories. Delete them. It was as simple as that.

He turned and walked briskly towards his bedroom, not wanting to think of the licorice twins anymore. He had had enough of them for one day.


	11. Universal Cheat Code?

Lorain drove down the path quickly, no objective as to where she was going, just away from the castle.

"Lori…?"

She looked over at Vanellope, "Yeah, Van?"

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" Vanellope asked slowly, twiddling her thumbs from the passenger seat.

"Of course not!" Lorain said quickly, "Why would you even ask me that?"

"The other's aren't really…happy that I exist," the little girl muttered.

"Aren't happy? Vanellope, I think you're amazing and the others…" Lorain trailed off, realising that what she was about to say wasn't true anymore, "…they don't know what kind of girl they're missing out on."

Vanellope smiled weakly, "Thanks I guess…well where are we headed now?"

"I'm not sure," Lorain says, looking around, "Where have you been staying?"

"Diet-Cola Mountain," Vanellope says blandly.

"What? It's unsafe there!" She snapped at the young princess.

"Well it's my home. It's all I got…" Vanellope says, looking out the window.

Lorain felt something inside of her break and she frowned. It isn't all you've got…You've got the castle. The **_sea-foam green_** castle. Your race car. Your racetrack and all of your adoring fans. But that…was in another time, Lorain supposed.

"Lorain!"

She jumped and slammed on the breaks, making the car jerk forward and then snapping back. Vanellope squealed but because of her seatbelt she remained in place.

Lorain remained straight but turned to see Felix approaching them. She glared at him, "You scared us to death! I almost crashed the car!"

"Sorry for scaring you, Lorain," He said, cautiously approaching them.

"You almost have me a heart attack," Lorain cried, getting out of the car and holding her chest but slowly she calmed down.

"I really am sorry, Lorain. What can I help you with?" Felix asked, looking up at the tall girl.

She sighed and stared at the ground, "Can you start with my car…?"

"Of course," He says, raising his hammer and tapping it gently to the side of the car where the car hinges were. A quiet metallic 'ping' echoed around them and a new door flashed once before it appeared solid, "Now what?"

"Well…for starters…what do you remember about this game? About…Sugar Rush?" Lorain asked, leaning against the side of the car.

Felix shrugged, twirling his hammer and placing it in his work belt, "I don't know much about this game, Maim, only that it's a racing game for kids. You're over by the whack-a-mole, right?"

"Yeah…well…" Lorain looked towards the castle, "What do you know about coding?"

"I know that it makes up everything. Everything has it and it makes up who you are," Felix says with a grin, proud of himself for knowing about the subject.

"Do you know if it's possible to…change coding?" Lorain asks, glancing in Vanellope's direction.

"I don't believe so, Lorain. Not without getting into the game's mainframe and that's nearly impossible even if you do know where it is. I've heard about some universal cheat code that you have to enter into some control panel...but even then, it would take forever to find it. The only other way to make changes to a game is through updates. Maybe your game was just updated without your knowledge?" Felix says, deep in thought.

"Oh…maybe…but I highly doubt it," Lorain says, hands in her pockets now, "I was hoping this was going to be able to be one of those things you could just fix with a magical hit of your hammer but I guess not…"

"Sorry I couldn't be of any more help," Felix says, looking up at her sadly.

"You were a lot of help Felix," Lorain gave him a quick hug and then smiled weakly, "Thanks."

"No problem," Felix said with a tip of his hat and walked off towards Game Central Station.

Vanellope poked her head out of the window, "What'd Felix say?"

"He can't help us," Lorain says, running her fingers through her red curls.

"Oh…" Vanellope looked down.

"But don't worry, we'll be alright," Lorain smiles, "Now get back in the car. We're going to drop you off back at your home. Then I'm going to head out and deal with King Candy up at the castle. I have to ask him about something."

"Okay," Vanellope says, not bothering to put up much of a fight and crawled back into the car.

Lorain sighed and looked back towards the castle, "What did he do to this game…?"

* * *

**_A/N: Now where do you suppose Landon Licorice-Twist is during all of this? Probably chilling in the Candy Cane Forest like some hermit. Poor little Landon...He should actually be making an appearance soon. Maybe in chapter 12 or 13? Dunno. The story isn't set in stone yet but we'll see._**


	12. Within the Mountain

The car was a lot faster now that it had been fixed. It rocketed towards Diet-Cola Mountain and soon it skidded to a halt just beside the massive candy formation.

"So…you live on the mountain," Lorain asks slowly, staring up towards the top of the building.

"Yep…" Vanellope smiles, hands on her hips, "Well more of _**inside**_ the mountain actually."

"Inside?" The older girl asks.

"Mmhm," the little princess grins and darts toward the mountain, "Right through here!"

Lorain's eyes widened as she ran straight through the side of the mountain, her jaw dropping.

Vanellope poked her head through the wall and smirked, "Well come on, Speedy Gonzales, I thought you liked going fast?"

"How did you find this place…?" Lorain gapes, walking towards the mountain and stepping through where Vanellope disappeared into. She appeared to be in some sort of cavern, deep within the mountain.

"I accidentally tripped and fell trying to get away from Taffyta. I ended up falling through there and here I am!" Vanellope grinned, waving around her, "I think it's some sort of unfinished bonus level or something."

Lorain gingerly looked back to the grinning girl, "Is it…safe?"

"It's perfectly safe!" Vanellope waves her hand dismissively before there is a large explosion from somewhere in the cavern.

Lorain's eyes widened and she wobbled as the mountain shook. Her eyes flew to Vanellope, "What was that!?"

"Falling Mentos. No big deal," Vanellope snorted, hopping deeper into the cave, "C'mon, I'll show you."

Lorain looked around one more time before following the chipper little girl deeper into the cave. When they went around the corner, the cavern suddenly stretched into a spacious area, a bubbling mass of something in the center of the large room.

"What exactly is that?" Lorain asked, peering down at the orange bubbling liquid.

"Diet-Cola Hot springs. But watch out, it's broiling hot," Vanellope added, picking up a chunk of pretzel off the ground, "Watch this…" She grunted as she tossed the pretzel into the air. It clicked lightly as it hit one of the small white Mentos that were stuck to the ceiling. It cracked loose and tumbled down into the Diet-Cola below. It immediately bubbled and sprayed the Diet-Cola high into the air like a geyser.

Lorain yelled, falling backwards onto the ground in surprise. She quickly looked to Vanellope, "This is supposed to be _**safe**_?!"

"It only does that when I hit it," Vanellope says before turning away and mumbling, "Or if one falls be itself…"

The licorice racer climbed back to her feet and looked around the cave, "So where exactly do you sleep?"

"Over here!" Vanellope smiled, hopping over to a fluffy cake and hopping on top of it and rolling herself up in candy wrappers, "I sleep on here and bundle myself up in candy wrappers like a little homeless lady."

Lorain's smile faltered and she slowly walked over to Vanellope's side, sitting on the cake experimentally, "I wish this wasn't the way it had to be…"

"But it is," Vanellope says, sitting back up and grinning, "I don't really mind anyway. I like it here."

The older girl stared down at the princess and smiled weakly, ruffling her black hair, "Okay then, let's get some rest. I have to deal with King Candy tomorrow and I need all the rest I can get."

"But I'm not tired," Vanellope whined.

Lorain sent her a warning glance and Vanellope giggled, laying back down, "Alright, alright, I'm going to bed. Don't get your licorice in a twist."

Vanellope giggled.

"You get it? Licorice? Twist? Licorice-Twist? It's-"

"Yeah, Vanellope. I got it," Lorain laughed, laying back with her legs still hanging over the side of the cake. She stared up at the ceiling of the cave, crossing her arms.

"Goodnight, Lori," Vanellope sighed before falling asleep.

Lorain looked over at her and smiled weakly, "Goodnight…Princess."


	13. Kiss Me Not

"Wake up, Lori!" Vanellope called, jumping up and down on the cake.

Lorain grumbled, pulling a candy wrapper over her head, "Five more minutes…"

"I thought you said you needed to talk to the king?" Vanellope questions, flopping down at Lorain's side.

Lorain sighed and sat up slowly, stretching before she stood up and twisted her body this way and that.

"You want some sugar water and candy corn for breakfast?" Vanellope asks, walking over to a mini freezer she had constructed out of a gingerbread box with ice cream filling.

"Um…sure," Lorain said and Lorain tossed her a little bag of candy corn and a bottle of sugar water, "Thanks."

Vanellope got out some for herself and popped the bottle open, taking a sip.

Lorain was quick to eat, exchanging very few words with the princess. When she finished, she placed the bottle on the bed and turned to Vanellope, "I'm going to head out now, okay?"

"Alright," Vanellope says, hopping back up onto her bed.

Lorain looked over at the girl cautiously, "You sure you're going to be okay here for a while?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Vanellope smiled.

"If you say so," Lorain says, slowly turning and walking towards the exit. Before she left she glanced over her shoulder, "Be safe, Van."

She grinned and gave a nod, "I will."

Lorain headed out to her car and smiled when she found it in perfect condition. Jumping in the driver seat she pulled her goggles back down over her face and drove off towards the candy castle.

She noticed a red child jumping up and down on the side of the road, waving her arms wildly, "Lorain?!"

Lorain came to a stop and stared at Jubileena, "What is it, Bing-Bing?"

"I was looking for you everywhere yesterday! You weren't at the castle! Where did you go?" Jubileena asked.

"I was staying overnight at a friend's," Lorain says, glancing back at the castle.

"Well the other racers and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out after the races today," Jubileena says, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Well…I suppose after I head back after my trip I could take some time off for you guys," Lorain said slowly, not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings.

"Yay! Okay, we'll see you after closing!" Jubileena grins and runs off towards the others, "She said yes!"

Lorain rolled her eyes with a laugh and headed back up towards the castle. When she reached the double doors of the castle she parked her car and hopped out, putting her goggles up on top of her head, holding back her mass of red curls.

For some reason she felt as though King Candy had been expecting her. She stopped and shook her head, she meant _**Turbo**_ had been expecting her.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the doors opened by Oreo Guards that gestured her inside.

She strolled inside and the guards closed the doors behind her, taking off in different directions to somewhere deep inside the castle.

"King Candy?" She called, no aware if there were any others in the castle or not.

There was jingling a moment later and a smirk pulled onto Lorain's face. Here he comes.

King Candy walked into the room a moment later, looking at her suspiciously, "What are you doing here, Lorain?"

"Thought I'd pay my favorite king a visit," Lorain said innocently, hoping to get on his good side.

King Candy looked at her blandly and answered, "Okay, what do you want?"

"Nothing, honestly," Lorain responded, lifting her hands up in defense.

"Well you must be here for a reason," he asked, squinting at her.

"I may or may not have heard something about a Universal Cheat Code…" Lorain drawled, walking around the room casually.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Toots," Turbo's slang snuck into King Candy's tone and Lorain glanced at him over her shoulder.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Lorain smiled, turning on heel and walking back over to him, "I just need the code to get into the room to change back what you messed up in the first place."

King Candy sent her a glare, more Turbo slang seeping into his voice, "What're you goin' on about?"

Lorain got an idea and glanced over at King Candy, eyes half lidded, biting her bottom lip.

The look startled him. He knew that look. It was a look many girls gave him when he was back in TurboTime.

She walked closer to him and smiled, seductively, "What the cheat code, Turbo…?"

"U-Uh…" His voice was stuck in his throat as he stared up at her in shock.

"Tell me…" Her licorice breath washed over his face and he felt his breathing hitch, his disguise faltering and he reverted back to his original form.

Lorain smirked and laughed, turning away from him, "You actually think I would kiss you? Pathetic!"

Turbo's face flared up bright red, half out of anger and half out of embarrassment. He glared at her and snapped, "What is wrong with you!?"

"Me?" Lorain asked innocently, "Well isn't that what you were doing to me yesterday? Messing with my emotions? Trying to trick me?" She smiled smugly, "Think of that as payback."

Turbo growled and ripped off his helmet, throwing it at her head.

She easily dodged it and it clunked to the floor loudly, the sound echoing around the room, "You have terrible aim."

His anger was rising, "You can't just do that!"

"Do what?" Lorain asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"That, you little twit!" Turbo snapped.

"What is '_**that**_'?" She asked, picking up his helmet and spinning it in her hands.

Turbo ripped the helmet from her hands and tossed it behind him, "Don't touch my stuff!"

"You never answered my question, Fun-Size," Lorain smiled, not fazed by his anger in the slightest. This was fun.

"That! What you're doing right now!" He responded angrily, "Playing everything off like it doesn't even matter! It's annoying and I hate it! Stop it!"

"No," Lorain smiled.

"Respond to me!" He stomped his foot, "Do something!"

"No."

His fists bunched up and he looked like he was about to beat her senseless but her calm voice stopped him.

"You're sorta cute when you're mad," she giggled, smiling warmly at him.

Turbo wasn't sure how to respond to that so instead he just dropped his arms to his sides and stared at her.

"You know…" Lorain says, walking slowly over to him, not wanting to get hit, "…if you had just _**asked **_me I might have let you kiss me."

He narrowed his eyes at her and scrunched up his nose, "No you wouldn't have."

"Try me," she smirked, taking a step even closer to him.

He stared at her face for a moment, his eyes trailing over each of her features, her pale skin, the slightest hint of freckles across her cheeks, bright red eyes, but most of all her plump pink lips.

Turbo's eyes snapped back up to her watching eyes, "Can I…kiss you?"

Lorain grabbed the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled him closer until their noses touch. She smirks, "No." Then she shoves him back and stands up fall, turning on her heels and walking towards the double doors that lead out of the castle, "Thanks for nothing, Fun-Size!"

Rage boiled inside of Turbo as he watched Lorain leave, the doors closing quietly behind her. When she finally vanished he exploded, throwing things around the room violently.

Who was she to _**dare**_ and speak to him like that!? To make him_** feel**_ like that!? She was just toying with his emotions the whole time! She was manipulative and obnoxious, _**always**_ needing to get _**her**_ way! She was conniving and deceiving and…and…

Turbo stopped his tantrum and his hands fell aimlessly downwards as realisation hit him.

And he loved it. He loved all of it. All of _**her**_.

"No…" Turbo said quietly to himself before he screamed, "No! I'm not letting that little twit do this to me!"

"King Candy?" A quiet voice came from outside the throne room doors.

He whipped his head toward the door, black hair falling over his face, "What do you want!?"

The voice trembled, "A-Are you alright i-in there, Sir?"

It was Snowanna Rainbeau. The snow cone themed racer.

"I'M…" He started to yell but lowered his voice, "I'm fine…"

"Can I come in…? I'd like to speak with you about something…?" She asked quietly.

Turbo looked around the trashed throne room before making up his mind. He glitched and turned himself back to his King Candy for and walked slowly over to the doors. He opened it a crack and slid out into the hall, closing the door behind him. He looked at Snowanna, "What is it?"

She looked up at him, "Well I-I was practicing on the substitute track with Minty and Citrusella when this man came out of the forest and stopped us…"

"A man…? From another game?" King Candy asked, slightly interested in her story.

"No, he said he was from this game. That he had something that you might want…" Snowanna glanced behind her, "He's followed me here too see you. He's waiting outside…"

King Candy blinked and waved his hand towards the door, "You're dismissed. Send him in."

Snowanna bowed slightly and then took off out the door.

Moments later a man stepped into the room in a long black cloak, unmoving as if he was a statue.

"Who are you?" King Candy asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Oh my dear man, I believe the question is, 'what do _**you**_ want from _**me**_'?" The man took down his hood, his bright red eyes piercing right through King Candy's.


	14. To The Maze We Go!

Lorain smiled to herself, feeling more accomplished than she ever had before. She felt even more in power when she heard him scream from inside the castle and loud smashing noises.

Then her smile faltered, "I hope he doesn't hurt himself…" As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't want Turbo to get hurt. No matter how much he deserved it…

She took a glance back at the castle before looking away and shaking her head. She dashed back over to her car and jumped in, pulling her racing goggles back over her face and taking off back towards Diet-Cola Mountain.

She got there in record time, climbing out and jogging over to the face of the mountain but then stopped in realisation. She had no clue where the entrance was.

Lorain groaned and put her hands on the mountain, patting as she slowly circled the bottom. Then her hand slipped through the hard surface and she smiled, leaning back. She would have to mark the entrance somehow…

Then she got an idea. She tossed her racing goggles on the dirt in front of the secret entrance before running over to the lollypop field and plucked too large sugar free lollypops out of the ground. They were a little bit heavier than she had originally thought but it was no bother. She drug them behind her over to the entrance and stood them up, crisscrossing the tops of them over each other like an archway before standing back to admire her work. When she was pleased with herself she picked up the goggles and stepped through the archway and into Vanellope's home.

She found Vanellope sitting on her bed, tossing bits of pretzels into the air towards the Mentos that hung from the ceiling.

Lorain crossed her arms, "What have I told you about doing that?"

Vanellope brightened up at the sound of her voice and jumping up from the bed, dropping the pretzel chunks onto the ground, "Lori! You're back! It's so booooooring here."

Lorain laughed and rolled her eyes, picking up the little princess into her arms, "Sorry I was gone so long. I couldn't get anything out of King Candy."

"I waited here in the cave for nothing?" Vanellope whined.

"Yeah…it might pay off in the long run but as of right now, I don't think he's going to tell me anything," Lorain said, placing Vanellope back down on the ground.

"Well…what do you want to do now?" Vanellope asks, turning to Lorain.

Lorain shrugged, completely at a loss. What were they to do until the arcade closes…?

"I know!" Vanellope chirped and grabbed Lorain's arm, dragging her off towards the entrance of the cave.

"Where are we going!?" Lorain laughed as Vanellope continued to pull her along.

"To the Candy-Corn Maze!" Vanellope called happily, "You'll love it! Come on!"

* * *

_**A/N: Haha! You don't get to know about what happens with King Candy yet! I'm so evil...but the next update will be up by tomorrow morning so you don't have to wait that long to find out what happens...Meh, I'm still mildly evil, I suppose.**_

_**Anyway, be sure to review!**_

_**~Isabelle**_


	15. What I Had To Do

He would know those eyes anywhere. King Candy smirked, "You must be Landon."

A smirk tugged on Landon's face, "I take it you've met my sister, then?"

"She just left actually," King Candy said dismissively, waving towards the door.

"Is that what all that noise was…?" Landon asked, glancing behind King Candy towards the throne room.

King Candy squinted at Landon and scrunched up his nose, "Why is it that you're here exactly?"

Landon smiled and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, twirling it in his fingers, "Just thought you might want this."

He flicked a finger and the paper sailed across the room and landed on the carpet in front of King Candy.

Landon pulled the hood back up over his head and an eerie shadow shielded his face, "Just think about it. I'm sure you can find some use for it." With that he turned on heel and glided out of the room smoothly, as if he had no feet at all. Then the doors closed silently behind him.

King Candy cautiously looked from the doors to the paper before bending down and picking up the slip of pink paper. He slowly unfolded it and blinked in confusion at the writing.

'Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Gas, Brake, START.'

"Is this…?" King Candy stared at the paper in awe before an evil grin cracked onto his face. He turned around instantly and hurried into the throne room, "Sour Bill!"

"Yes, Sir?" The warhead answered, rushing into the room but came to a halt when he saw the huge mess, "What happened in here?"

"Never mind that," King Candy dismissed, pushing aside a curtain behind his throne.

"Oh no…" Sour Bill whispered to himself, reluctantly following behind the king as he went into the long narrow hallway that was illuminated by pulsing blue wires. King Candy immediately hurried inside and stepped up to a large old-school Nintendo remote.

He pulled out an old napkin from tappers with the universal cheat code written on it in pen. He shook his head just at the sight of it. He didn't even want to_** think**_ of the things he had to go through to get that code.

Then he swiftly pressed the sequence of buttons, up, up, down, down, left, right left, right, B, A, START. The remote moved aside to reveal a large black void on the other side, filled with the building blocks that made up the game Sugar Rush.

Yet he didn't move from his spot. King Candy looked down from the universal cheat code, to Lorain's cheat code and blinked. They were so similar…

Sour Bill handed King Candy the end of a coil of licorice rope and he immediately tied it around his waist and shook his head, clearing his mind. King Candy tucked the Tapper's napkin into his coat pocket before bending his knees and diving into the void.

He became weightless, floating like there was no gravity. King Candy moved his arms as though he was swimming and glided deeper into the void and over to the mass of illuminated blocks that floated in the center of the void.

His eyes scanned over the blocks and found the one he was searching for. A red block with the words 'Easter Eggs' written across it in pure white lettering.

He reached out and touched the surface of the block and it popped open instantly, revealing two separate blocks. One read 'Lorain Licorice-Twist' and the other read 'Landon Licorice-Twist'.

King Candy looked down at the paper in his hand and reached out, touching Lorain's block. It flashed red once and beeped several times before a virtual remote appeared over the block.

He look a deep breath and took the remote into his hands and pressed the sequence of numbers carefully.

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Gas, Brake, START.

The remote flashed once before dematerializing into green pixels. Lorain's box flashed and crackled bright red pixels before it sprang open, revealing hundreds of gold-coin icons and many other blocks as well.

King Candy chuckled, "Apparently she does like to win…"

He stuffed the paper into his pocket and looked over the coding carefully before spotting the block he needed. King Candy reached out and clicked the block that read 'memories'. It flashed once again and opened, revealing memory blocks. Hundreds of them flashed with moving pictures of her and the other racers, the track, Vanellope and even Turbo himself.

King Candy felt an uneasy feeling as he stared at all her memories. He hesitantly reached out and grabbed a block tightly in his hand and ripped it out of her memory block. The coding within the memory core hissed and cracked bright red but settled down a moment later.

King Candy looked away from Lorain's block and it closed instantly. He swam a fair distance away from the rest of the coding before he tossed the memory block out into the empty black void. The little red memory block flickered where it had been torn but floated in place.

'Vanellope Von Schweetz' it read in pure white letters.

King Candy looked down and tugged on the licorice rope and Sour Bill pulled him back through the door. The Nintendo remote slid back over the door and sealed it off once again.

As King Candy untied the licorice rope, Sour Bill looked up at him, "What did you do in there…?"

King Candy tossed the licorice rope to the side and stalked out into the throne room, "I had to do it…I had no choice…"

Sour Bill only glanced back at the door before he slowly followed behind King Candy, wondering what the king could have done.


	16. I Don't Know You

Lorain smiled brightly as Vanellope pulled her towards the Candy-Corn Maze, "Exactly what is the Candy-Corn Maze?"

"It's this huge maze, deep in the candy-corn fields. It's so big! The last time I went in it I got lost forever!" Vanellope says before coming to a stop outside the maze's entrance, "We're here!"

Lorain raised an eyebrow, "How could you have gotten lost in the maze forever if you're standing right here with me, now?"

"I'm magic," Vanellope says brightly before pulling Lorain inside, "Come on! Now let's get inside!"

The older girl laughed and followed Vanellope inside the maze.

The princess released Lorain's hand and headed off ahead of Lorain, "Hurry up! We have to get as lost as we can and then try and find our way out!"

Lorain hurried along after the princess, "Are you sure this is a good idea…"

There was suddenly a sharp spark behind her eyes. Lorain gasped in pain and dropped to her knees, hands clamping down over her eyes as if it would stop the pain coming from behind them.

She felt as though something was eating away at her brain, sharp teeth ripping away at the sensitive nerves inside her head.

Then all the pain vanished when she felt a small hand on her arm, "Lori? Lori, are you okay?"

Lorain cracked an eye open and lowered her hands. A little girl with black, candy-coated hair stared up at her.

The girl's eyes stared at her in worry, "Lorain?"

Lorain's brow furrowed, "Do I…know you?"

"It's me," the girl says, pulling at Lorain's sleeve, "It's me, Lorain. Vanellope."

"Vanellope…?" Lorain says, racking her brain before letting out a sigh, "I'm sorry. I don't know anyone named Vanellope."

The girl cringed and she clutched onto Lorain's arm, "Lorain, this isn't funny. Stop it right now."

Lorain stood up and brushed the cocoa dirt off her skirt, "I'm sorry, but I'm not joking. I really don't know who you are."

"Lori…" Vanellope's eyes glossed over and she tried to blink away the tears, "Lori, no, it's me! It's Vanellope! You're like my big sister! We know everything about each other! I-I…"

The licorice girl cringed at the sight of the little girl, she never liked seeing anyone cry, "Look…don't…don't cry. I think you have me confused as someone else."

This only made the tears come quicker and Vanellope dropped to her knees, tears falling down her pink cheeks, sobs racking through her little body, "W-What's wrong with y-you…?"

Lorain cautiously reached out to the girl, "Um…it's okay. We'll find the girl you're looking for."

Vanellope looked up at Lorain, her bottom lip trembling, "B-But I already f-found h-her…"

Lorain picked up the little girl into her arms and Vanellope sobbed into her shoulder. She rubbed small circles on the little girl's back and began backtracking her way out of the maze, "Ssshhhhhh…It's okay. We'll get you out of here and back home, okay?"

Vanellope sniffled but didn't say a word.

"Where do you live?" Lorain asked as she exited the maze.

"D-Diet-Cola M-Mountain…" Vanellope said, her voice muffled by Lorain's cardigan.

"Okay, we'll get you back home…" Lorain stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the girl, "What did you say your name was again?"

"Vanellope…" She whispered.

"We'll get you back home, Vanellope," Lorain said, walking towards Diet-Cola Mountain, "Don't you worry about a thing."


	17. Swapped Memories

Lorain was puzzled as she carried the sobbing girl towards the mountain. It was as though a huge part of her was empty but then slowly pieces started to come together and Lorain smiled at the fond memories.

"So…" Vanellope said slowly, looking out from behind Lorain's hair, "You really don't remember me…?"

"No, sorry," Lorain have a shrug and continued walking.

"B-But…what about when I rescued you from the Fungeon?" Vanellope's voice was quiet but still had that demanding tone behind it.

"You didn't," Lorain says, easily brushing it off, "King Candy just let me out."

"N-No…" Vanellope blinked and pushed against Lorain's arms.

Lorain dropped Vanellope and the smaller girl landed on the soles of her feet.

"Well what about when you took me skating at frozen lemonade pond?" Vanellope tried again, urging her to remember, "Or when we went to the taffy swamps and caught chocolate frogs?"

"…what are you talking about?" Lorain asks, squinting at the girl, "I used to go skating with King Candy at the pond and caught chocolate frogs with him at the taffy swamps…have you been spying on us?"

Vanellope felt her world shattering around her, "I-I…I wasn't spying! You did those things with me!"

Lorain put her fingers to her temples and rubbed small circles, "Look…Vanellope…I don't know where you got these ideas from but whoever you're thinking of, it's not me. I'm sorry." She looked past the shorter girl and nodded behind her, "There's Diet-Cola Mountain. I hope you find your friend, I really do, but I have to get back to the castle."

Vanellope stood there motionless as Lorain stared down at her. Then she downcast her eyes and turned back to Diet-Cola Mountain to begin her walk home, "Bye…Lorain…"

Lorain took a deep breath and shook her head before turning in the opposite direction to get in her car which was parked a little distance away from the Mountain. She jumped in and pulled her goggles over her eyes before starting the car and heading off towards the candy castle, leaving her thoughts of the troubled little girl behind her.

When she reached the she hopped out and put her goggles back on her head and pushed open the double doors.

"Hello…?" Lorain called into the throne room which had been restored to how it looked before she had left. The guards must have cleaned up from King Candy's little tantrum.

"Lorain?"

Lorain tuned to see Sour Bill standing behind her. She gave a smile, "Hey Bill."

"What're you doing at the castle?" Sour Bill asked, remembering how she had angered King Candy before her brother showed up.

"Well I live here, don't I?" Lorain questioned, walking over to King Candy's throne and sitting on one of the armrests.

"Well yes…but it's during arcade hours. Aren't you usually off working on your car or down with the other racers that weren't put in the daily roster?" Sour Bill questioned as Lorain broke off a piece of the throne and popped the white chocolate into her mouth.

"I didn't feel like it, today," Lorain says, lying against the backrest on the throne, kicking her feet lazily back and forth, "Hey, when does the arcade close? I usually don't pay attention to that sort of stuff."

"Let's see, today is Friday which is a weekday so the arcade closes at…eight I think," Sour Bill says blandly.

"What time is it now?" Lorain asks, breaking off another small piece of the white chocolate throne and tossing it into her mouth.

"Seven forty-three," the warhead answers, "Arcade closes in another seventeen minutes."

"Thanks, _Thour Bell_," Lorain giggles, mimicking King Candy's lisp, "You can leave now is you want. I'll just _thtay_ in here until King Candy _getth_ back."

"O-Okay…" Sour Bill says hesitantly but turns and leaves the throne room and out into the hallway.

"Warhead," A voice snapped.

Sour Bill jumped and turned to see Landon in his black cloak.

He took down his hood and narrowed his eyes at Bill, "You know what King Candy did with the code?"

"Not really..." Sour Bill says blandly.

"Do you know if he even used it at all?" Landon pried, getting down on one knee so he could speak with the warhead better.

"He used it, I'm just not sure what for," Sour Bill responds.

"You seriously have no idea?" Landon asks, narrowing his eyes at Bill.

"Why do you want to know? You gave the code to him in the first place," Sour Bill responds, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I may not be her biggest fan but she's still my sister and I don't want her to get hurt," Landon says, rising to his feet and pulling his hood back over his face, "Let me know if you learn anything. I'll be back soon and you better have something new to tell me."

Then Landon left the castle without another word.


	18. Something Different

Lorain hummed to herself, slowly picking away at the throne until the doors to the throne room opened and King Candy walked in. He stopped upon seeing her and glared at the licorice girl, "What are you doing in my throne room?"

Lorain grinned and sat up, "Waiting for you to get back from racing. What are we going to do today?"

King Candy blinked at her in confusion. Why was she suddenly so kind to him? Why was she…Then it hit him. When he erased Vanellope from minds of others, the image of the princess was replaced with an image of himself. So when he removed Vanellope from Lorain's memories, he was put in the place of Vanellope. So since Vanellope used to be Lorain's best friend that means that Lorain's new best friend would be-

"Hello? Earth to, King Candy?" Lorain waved her hand in front of King Candy's face, startling him and making the bells on his shoes jingle.

"U-Um…I'm not sure. What would you like to do?" King Candy asked slowly, trying to figure out if what he was thinking was in fact, what had happened.

"Well…I have to go and hang out with the rest of the racers in a little while to go skating or something. We could go and do that if you want?" Lorain suggested with a smile.

"I suppose we could do that…" He spoke as if it was a question instead of a statement.

"Great!" Lorain threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, making his face turn pink before she pulled away and grabbing his hand, "Come on, let's go!" With that, she began pulling him along with her out of the castle and towards their cars.

By this point King Candy was so shocked that he could barely get his legs to move. Maybe he was right about her memories being replaced…

Lorain spun back to face him, "Race ya there!" Then she released her grip on his hand and jumped in her car, revving the engine and pulling her goggles down over her eyes.

King Candy hesitated and it took him a few seconds to react to what she said and jumped in his car as well, pulling his own goggles on over his eyes and starting his car.

"One…two…three…Go!" Lorain yelled and floored it at the same time King Candy did.

They shot down the rainbow bridge at top speed, zooming past the racing track and gaining the attention of the other racers. They jumped in their cars and took off after Lorain and King Candy as well, cocoa dust flying behind them.

Lorain was the first to reach Frozen Lemonade Pond, basically due to the fact that King Candy had never been there before and didn't know the way.

Lorain hopped out of the car and removed her goggles, tossing them in the driver seat of her car before popping the trunk.

She walked over and grabbed her skates out of the trunk and grabbed her spare pair for King Candy. Lorain held them out to him, "Here, you can use this pair."

King Candy cautiously got out of his car and took the skates from her, "Thanks…"

Lorain smiled and walked over to her car and sat on the hood, unlacing her shoes one at a time.

The other racers circled the pond before coming to a stop and all getting out of their cars.

"Everybody have their skates?" Lorain called out to all of them, slipping one skate on her foot.

The racers held up their skates triumphantly and began putting their skates on as well.

Lorain finished lacing up her skates and tossed her high tops into her car before skating smoothly onto the pond. She circled around the medium sized pond once and then glided back over to where King Candy stood, his ankles bending inward as he stood in his skates by the pond's edge.

"Come on, you've done this before. It's easy," Lorain smiled, trying to coax him out on the ice.

"I don't think that's such a good idea…" He muttered as he bit his bottom lip, staring at the ice and worrying what would happen if he fell in front of all the racers.

"Don't worry," Lorain smiled and took his hands in hers, "I'll be right here if you fall."

King Candy stared down at his skates and then looked back up at Lorain, "You're not just saying that so when I step on the ice you can let go and make me fall, are you?"

Lorain's nose scrunched up as she giggled, "I wouldn't do that. I promise I won't let go." She gave his hands a reassuring squeeze.

King Candy took a deep breath and then hesitantly took a slow step onto the ice. Then she began to gently pull him with her out onto the pond.

The other racers flooded onto the pond but were careful to stay a small distance away from Lorain and King Candy in case they were to get blamed for making him fall.

Lorain smiled, "See, it's easy." She went to loosen her grip but that made King Candy panic.

He tried his best to keep his ankles straight but he kept tilting his feet inward and he felt his skates sliding out from under him. King Candy gasped and gripped onto Lorain's wrists but the sudden tip made Lorain lose her own footing and they both fell onto the ice.

Lorain blinked a few times as she stared up at the sky, realising that she had managed to fall off to the side and not crush King Candy. She turned her head to the side and saw King Candy glaring back at her, "You said you weren't going to let me fall…"

She giggled but there was sympathy in her voice, "I didn't let go did I?"

"You were going to!" King Candy pointed out.

"No I wasn't. I was going to skate beside you and hold your hand so you wouldn't do exactly what you just did," Lorain smirked.

"Oh…" He blinked and his eyes eased, "Oops…"

"Oops is right," Lorain laughed and got to her feet before turning back to him and holding out her hand, "Need some help?"

He took her hand and she pulled him back up onto his feet.

They stood there for a moment and Lorain smiled, "You okay?"

King Candy stared up at her and slowly smiled back, "Yeah…I'm fine."

Lorain looked down at her skates for a moment and then looked around them to see the other racers had stopped skating and were staring at them. The second they saw Lorain had noticed them they immediately began skating again as if nothing had happened.

Lorain laughed lightly and shook her head, circling so she was at King Candy's side and she held onto his hand tightly, "Remember to keep loose this time. Don't get all still or you're gonna fall over again."

"Got it," King Candy smiled and looked down at his feet before looking straight ahead at the pond.

Then slowly they began skating once again, hand in hand, and neither of them wanted to let go.


	19. Well, What Should I Do?

"See, you're getting the hand of it," Lorain smiled, nudging him with her elbow playfully.

King Candy wobbled but stayed upright, "Don't do that. I'll fall."

Lorain laughed and rolled her eyes, quickening the speed she had been skating at so they moved faster.

He gripped onto her hand and leaned back, digging the back of his skates into the ice, "How about we don't do that either."

"Come on, Scaredy-Cat," She smirked and kept on pulling him along, "You're not gonna fall."

"That's what you said last time," King Candy muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Lorain asks, looking over her shoulder.

"Nothing," King Candy says, slapping on a fake grin.

Jubileena skated over and smiled up at the licorice girl, "Hey, Lori."

"You're already getting better at skating, good job," Lorain smiled at her.

"I know, I can stand up by myself now," Jubileena grinned now, holding out her arms for emphasis.

"I can stand up by myself too," King Candy muttered, looking up at Lorain.

Lorain laughed and held up their hands that were entwined together, "I know you can. You haven't left my side since the arcade closed." Then she pouted slightly and sighed, "I have to use the bathroom. I'll be back as soon as I can."

With that Lorain skated off the pond and wobbled over to her car. Soon she was out of her skates and on her way towards the castle which was where the nearest washroom was.

King Candy managed to stay upright as he watched Lorain drive away. That's when he noticed that all the girls had stopped skating and were smiling brightly at him.

His brow furrowed, "What?"

Adorableezle giggled and whispered something to Snowanna who giggled in return.

King Candy felt as though he was being studied by the girls and it made him incredibly uncomfortable, "What are you girls going on about?"

Candlehead looked over at Taffyta before she smiled smugly at King Candy, "You like Lorain, don't you?"

King Candy glared at the girls, his cheeks turning pink, "I do not!"

"Then why is your face turning red?" Citrusella asked.

"It's cold out," King Candy snapped.

"Then why are they just turning red now? We've been out here for almost an hour now," Nougetsia asks.

"I-I…" King Candy started but trailed off and sighed in defeat, "Is it really that obvious?"

"Totally," Taffyta smirks, popping her strawberry lollypop into her mouth.

King Candy groaned and covered his face with his hands out of embarrassment.

"But don't worry! I'm sure she likes you too," Snowanna smiles, skating over a bit closer.

"She…does?" King Candy asked cautiously.

"Absolutely!" Jubileena grins but it falters, "At least I think so, anyway…"

"Well what do you think I should do?" He asks, crossing his arms.

"Ask her on a date!" Citrusella smiles.

"Yeah!" Snowanna responds, "It'll be romantic!"

King Candy blinked, "Um…the game's tenth anniversary is tomorrow night?"

"That's perfect!" Candlehead cheers.

"Then you could take her up on top of Cake Mountain after the party!" Adorableezle suggests.

"That sounds awesome! The view is beautiful from up there!" Jubileena swoons.

"Make sure you bring a picnic for the two of you."

"And a blanket! You don't want to sit on the ground do you?"

"Make sure you take her car up. It's bigger than yours and you can store more things in the trunk."

"Good point, Snowanna."

"Citrusella and I can set off cherry bombs down by the taffy swamp. It'll be like fireworks!"

"Perfect! And then as the fireworks and going off, King Candy can casually put his arm around Lorain's shoulder," Candlehead smiles as she puts an arm around Jubileena.

"And she'll lean her head on his shoulder," Jubileena says, resting her head on Candlehead's shoulder.

"Then he'll look into her eyes…" Candlehead looks down at Jubileena.

"And her eyes will sparkle…" Jubileena flutters her eyelashes.

"And then he'll lean in for the kiss…" Candlehead leans down slowly.

"And then they make babies!" Jubileena grins before Candlehead could get too close.

All the girls instantly break out into a wild laughing fit. Candlehead and Jubileena join them, falling over onto the ice as they laughed.

King Candy on the other hand was not laughing. His face was bright red and he looked just about ready to pass out.

"What's so funny?" Lorain asked, jumping out of her car and tying up her skates.

"How does Cassie Candy sound?" Candlehead asks.

"Or Lance Licorice-Twist?" Snowanna giggled.

Jubileena elbowed them, still giggling, "Both of you stop it!"

Candlehead and Snowanna both giggled but kept their mouths shut.

"Whoa, are you okay? You're really red? Do you need a scarf or something?" Lorain asks, skating over to King Candy's side, I think I have some in my trunk if you need them."

King candy quickly shook his head, unable to say anything.

Jubileena looked around before loudly stating, "It sure is getting late guys. Us nine year olds should get going back home!"

All the girls got what Jubileena was hinting at and immediately agreed, retreating off the ice. The boys were a little more reluctant but followed anyway. Soon the pond was cleared out except for Lorain and King Candy as the other racers drove away in their cars.

"What was that all about?" Lorain asked, skating circles around King Candy.

"I'm not sure…" He answered but he knew what the girls had wanted him to do.

"Weird…" Lorain blinks and sends him a sideways glance, "Well more room for us I guess."

"Yeah, hey um-" King Candy started but Lorain cut him off.

"You can drop the disguise you know," Lorain said, keeping her eyes on the ice as she skated.

"What?" King Candy responded, a little taken aback.

"After seeing what you really look like, it's weird seeing you like this," Lorain said, looking over at him.

"I don't know what you mean…" King Candy said with a shrug.

"Drop the act, Turbo," Lorain rolled her eyes and skated over, giving him a playful shove. His arm glitched and he turned back into the grey skinned man Lorain knew him to truly be.

He smirked at her, "I know. I was just testing you."

"Sure you were," Lorain says with a roll of her eyes.

"So as I was saying before…" Turbo started, shakily skating after her, "You know how the tenth anniversary of Sugar Rush is coming up tomorrow night…?"

"Doesn't everybody?" She grinned at him.

Turbo chuckled nervously, "Yeah well I was wondering if you wanted to go to the party with me…?"

"Like as friends?" Lorain asked, skating around the edge of the pond.

"No...Like…a date." He said it more like it was a question.

"A date…?" Lorain questions, turning quickly to face him.

"Yes?" Turbo slowly responded.

Lorain blinked and stared at him for a second before a smile pulled onto her face, "That sounds fun. I'd like that."

"Really?" Turbo blinked.

"Yeah," Lorain smiles but it slowly turns into a smirk, "But am I going on this date with Turbo or King Candy?"

"What's the difference?" He asks.

"Well…King Candy is uptight and proper, whereas Turbo is fun and weird...but in a good way," Lorain says before skating in front of Turbo and coming to a stop.

"Well…which would you prefer?" Turbo asks.

"The real you," Lorain responds.

Turbo smiled and looked down at his skates before looking back up at her, "Would the real me in King Candy's body be alright?"

"I think I could deal with that," the licorice girl smiles.

"So…it's a date?" He asks.

Lorain smiles and takes his hand in hers, "It's a date."


	20. Getting To Know You

**_A/N: Sorry for such a long wait, been busy with school. Projects are piling up and I have done nothing...Oh well_**

* * *

When Lorain woke up the next morning thinking of the little girl with the candy in her hair.

"Vanellope," She recalled, sitting up in her bed.

The arcade had already opened and King Candy had long since gone along with the rest of the racers. The arcade always opened earlier and stayed open later on the weekends. Maybe she would pay a visit to the glitch girl today. She didn't have anything better to do anyway.

Lorain climbed out of bed and walked over to her dresser, changing into a new set of clothes that was identical to yesterday's clothes. She quickly brushed her hair and tied it up into a ponytail with a piece of licorice rope.

She checked herself over in the mirror before nodding to herself and walking out into the hallway. On her way towards the garage she saw a cloaked figure moving down the hallway towards the throne room.

Lorain blinked and quickly looked up and down the hallway before taking off towards the throne room. When she reached the double doors she quietly pushed it open a crack and peered inside.

The cloaked figure stood in front of Sour Bill and the two were talking in hushed voices.

"What information do you have for me?" The cloaked figure asked.

Sour Bill looked down, "Lorain seems to have forgotten all about Vanellope. She's usually out with that girl all day but lately she's just been spending time with the king."

"So that little girl was telling the truth…" Lorain muttered quietly to herself, her eyes still locked on the cloaked figure. That voice was so familiar but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"So he did something to her memory core…" The cloaked figure observed, "Anything else?"

"Memory core…?" Lorain's nose turned up. What were these guys talking about?

"Not particularly…" Sour Bill trailed off before speaking up quickly, "Oh! She and King Candy are going to the anniversary party with Lorain."

"So what he really wants out of this is my sister?" The cloaked man hissed, clenching his fists together.

Wait…

Lorain's eyes widened and before she could stop herself her mouth dropped open and the word fumbled out, "Landon?"

Everything froze. Nobody moved. Then slowly the cloaked figure turned his head in the direction of the door and lowered his hood. The twins' eyes locked and for a moment and then a look of anger etched onto Landon's face, "Lorain?"

Lorain began to slowly back away from the door, "I'll um…I'll just be going now…"

"Lorain! You have to stay away from him!" Landon snapped, beginning to walk over to the doors where Lorain stood.

That's when she felt fear overwhelm her and she began running out of the castle as fast as she could.

Landon took off after her, "You have to stay away from the king! He's bad news, Lorain!"

But by the time he got outside she had already left, the sound of her car off in the distance.

Landon's nose tuned up and he pulled up his hood. He looked over his shoulder at the little warhead, "Keep the king away from my sister."

"Why would you do that?" Sour Bill asked, looking up at the licorice boy.

Landon turned away from him, "Just keep the king away from her…"

"But…" Sour Bill started but Landon had already begun walking back towards the Candy Cane forest.

Lorain wasn't exactly sure where she was going but it was defiantly away from the castle. Before she knew it, she ended up standing at the ridge of Diet-Cola Mountain.

She took a few breathes to calm herself down and then slowly looked up at the oddly shaped candy formation. She knew that Vanellope had said she lived here but where exactly did you go to get in the mountain?

Lorain began walking around the base of the mountain and didn't find a mouth of a cave. Then she walked around again and again but still found no way to get into the mountain. Then her eyes catch sight of two sugar free lollypops that crisscrossed over each other. Her brow furrowed, it was as if something was bubbling in her brain and slowly she began walking over to them. She remembered…something. She remembered putting the lollypops here. But why?

Unless…

She slowly reached out and stuck her hand in between the lollypops. It glitched right through the wall and Lorain grinned, "Found it…"

She hopped through the secret opening and began walking into the cavern, looking around as she walked down towards the main room. Then she heard an explosion and her stomach jumped up into her throat as she screamed in fright, jumping backwards and landing on the cavern floor.

Everything went quiet and then suddenly, "Hello…?"

Lorain smiled and got to her feet, dusting herself off, "Vanellope…? It's Lorain."

The black haired girl with candy in her hair hopped into sight and grinned, "Hi! What are you doing here? I thought…you didn't remember me…?" Vanellope's grin slowly faded.

"No, I don't remember you but um…I'd like to get to know you now, if you want," Lorain rubbed her arm, "I mean, you seem pretty nice and all. For a glitch anyway…"

Vanellope smiled and cautiously took a step towards Lorain, "Really? You'd take the time to get to know me all over again?"

"Well…sure. I don't have anything else to do while the arcade is open anyway," Lorain smiled brightly, "So…should we get started?"

"Absolutely!" Vanellope grins and glitches over to Lorain, hugging her around her middle and staring up at the licorice girl with happy brown eyes, "You have so much to learn about me! Come on!"


	21. Not From Me

"And that was how I got all this candy in my hair," Vanellope smirked, looking up at her hair.

Lorain smiled at the girl as she went on about herself. She felt as though little gaps in her head were being filled, like Vanellope had been right about Lorain forgetting about her.

Lorain crossed her legs from her spot on Vanellope's bed, "What about your backstory?"

"Well…I'm not really sure what happened to me before the game was plugged in because I've got pixlexia," Vanellope says, her body glitching half a foot to the left just to prove a point, "But after the game was plugged in I knew that racing was in my code but King Candy wouldn't let me race for some reason so that made me really bummed out. Um…I managed to get a kart from the Kart-Bakery and took it out on one of the bonus tracks to try and practice but before I could even get in the kart, Taffyta and Rancis showed up and chased after me. I tripped when I passed Diet-Cola Mountain and fell through the secret opening out front and ended up here. So I live here now in the Mountain."

"What about racing? Have you ever tried to get back on the track?" Lorain asked, crossing her legs.

"Not really. I can't now. Not with the rules there are to racing anyway. You need a coin from your previous winnings to get into the roster race and since I've never been in a race I don't have any coins…" Vanellope sighed, "Plus the other racers totaled my kart so I have nothing to race with. I would go back to the Kart-Bakery and make a new one but King Candy has it ordered that I'm not allowed within a hundred feet of that place…"

"Oh…" Lorain blinked, rubbing her arm, "Well…that sucks."

"Yeah…It does suck. Big time…" Vanellope laid back on her bed, "But it's okay here I guess. I don't mind the boiling Diet-Cola. It keeps me entertained."

"Oh…well, uh, let's change to topic. What's your favorite food? Color? Animal?" Lorain tried to make their conversation a bit happier.

"I love ice cream! Chocolate ice cream," Vanellope clarifies, "I like the color sea-foam green. Um…and my favorite animal is a uni-candy-corn!"

"Uni-candy-corn?" Lorain laughs, "What's that?"

"It's like a Vanilla-Pony but with a candy-corn horn on its head!" Vanellope smiles, "They're so awesome!"

"I've never soon a uni-candy-corn before…" Lorain says.

"I could take you to see him! There's one out in the candy corn fields!" Vanellope jumps up onto her feet.

"We can go and see him tomorrow if you want?" Lorain smiles, "I wold go with you to see him today but-"

"The anniversary party," Vanellope finishes for her, "Yeah…I know."

"Are you going to the party?" Lorain asks, getting to her feet.

"Probably not…I don't have much fun at them anyway…" Vanellope says with a weak smile, "But you should go and have fun without me. I'll be right here tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Lorain says, "I mean, I can stay here-"

"No, you go," Vanellope says, dropping back down onto her bed, "I'm fine here. Really."

"If you say so…" Lorain smiles and begins backing away towards the door, "I'll see you tomorrow, Vanellope."

"Promise?" Vanellope smirks.

"Promise," Lorain smiles and waves, "Bye, Vanellope."

"Bye…" Vanellope smiles and waves back as Lorain exits Diet-Cola Mountain.

Lorain pulls her goggles over her eyes and jumps in her car before starting it with a turn of the key. Her car hummed loudly as she drove off towards the castle where she knew that King Candy would be waiting for her.

With a flick of her wrist her goggles were tugged off her face and they landed on the front seat of her car, her red curls flowing freely around her face. She quickly fluffed it out with her hands and looked herself over in the rear-view mirror before nodding to herself and climbing out of the car and heading down to her room. She normally would have gone to the throne room but Minty had made her a dress especially for the occasion.

The dark red licorice dress was strapless and held snug to her body. Around her middle was a white chocolate ribbon that tied into a bow in the back. When the dress reached her mid-thighs it fluffed out like a princess's dress in a high-low fashion, but underneath the red licorice fabric was another layer of white chocolate that went completely to the floor.

When she reached her room she hurried inside and closed the door behind her. Lorain was already running late from her little talk session with Vanellope and she couldn't waste any more time. She instantly went to her closet and pulled out the hanger that held the dress before quickly changing into it. Lorain brushed her hair before tying it up in a simple ponytail and looking herself over quickly in the mirror. That's when she realised she still had on her high-tops; the shoes' tips sticking out from under the dress.

_**Knock knock knock**_

Lorain swirled around to the door and dashed over to it, grabbing her cardigan on the way and pulling it on. She opened the bedroom door and saw Sour Bill standing there. Her smile instantly dropped, "Oh…it's you."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Sour Bill said blandly before handing her a small box, "Here."

"What's this?" Lorain asks, taking the box from him. It was about the size of her fist.

"A gift from King Candy," Sour Bill says before turning and walking away, "He'll be down soon."

Lorain smiled, "Thanks Bill!" Then she closed the door and looked down at the box. It was decorated in a red and white lace patterned paper and a small pink bow sat on the top. Slowly she lifted the lid from the box upward and set it off to the side.

Lorain's eyes widened and she reached into the box, pulling out a red tiara. She gasped and turned it over in her hands, "It's so pretty…and familiar…"

She reached up and placed the tiara on her head. Lorain smiled up at it and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked like a princess…who was wearing sneakers. Lorain giggled at the thought and fixed the tiara before spinning once in front of the mirror.

That tiara looked so familiar and it bugged her just looking at it. Where had she seen it from before?

There was another knock at her door and she rushed over, opening the door. King Candy stood there awkwardly and smiled up at her, "Hey…"

"Hey, Turbo," she smiled and pulled him into a hug, "I love the gift you got me. Why didn't you just give me it when you came down though?"

King Candy's brow furrowed in confusion. Gift? What gift? Well if she thought he gave her a gift he may as well go along with it.

"Uh…I wanted you to get a chance to look at it before we had to leave," King Candy tried, hoping that it would work with the 'gift' he had gotten her.

"Oh…well I love it! Can we get going? I want to get there before the other racers crowd all the tables."

"Sure we can go," King Candy smiles and holds out a hand. She takes it and smiles back as the two of them begin walking off towards the throne room where the party was to be held. Now that she was out in the hallway she could clearly hear the music coming from down the hall, muffled by the walls of the castle.

She looked over at King Candy as he gestured to the doors. She opened the doors and grinned, she had remembered the anniversary parties with the music and the lights but this was just spectacular! There were lights shining everywhere and Gloyd Orangeboar stood behind a large DJ booth, a pair of headphones around his neck.

"This looks so amazing!" Lorain grins, spinning into the room and looking around her. The majority of the citizens were crowded onto the dance floor while the rest were scattered around the large room and the rest of the castle.

"I'm glad you think so," King Candy smiled brightly.

Lorain looked over at him and pulls him towards her, "Come on! Let's go and dance!"

King Candy stumbled over his feet as she pulled him into the middle of the dance floor. The bells on his shoes were barely auditable over the pounding music coming from the cotton-candy speakers.

The licorice girl all but towered over the other people on the dance floor. The citizens only went up to her knees and the racers up to her stomach. King Candy was the only one that really came close to the girl's height and even the top of his eyes only came to her chin.

Lorain laughed and jumped up and down, dancing along with the music. King Candy began to dance along with her, as he was used to wild parties like the ones he used to throw after a day of racing back in Turbo Time.

Lorain on the other hand was not used to these kind of parties. She was usually one of the girls to skip the party and hang out in her room by herself or with Jubileena if she didn't want to go to the party either. But now she was at the party. With a lot of people. _**A lot**_.

"I don't think I've ever seen this many people in the castle before," Lorain smiles and takes his hands in hers as they dance, "You throw some pretty great parties."

King Candy smirked, "You should have seen the parties I used to throw back in my own game. You would have loved them."

"If you were there then I'm sure I would have," Lorain's smile grows as she spins, her dress fluffing out around her.

He felt his smirk grow; he was becoming to get more comfortable talking around the girl now. It felt weird to open up to someone after such a long time being alone.

Gloyd scratched the record and the music skipped and cracked but just as he was about to say something Jubileena jumped in front of the microphone and held her hand up high , "Top of the hour! Which means it's time for a slow song!"

The other racers seemed to groan while the candy citizens squealed in anticipation.

"Now calm down, it's just one song," Jubileena rolled her eyes and the music changed into a song with a slower speed. Music from a piano poured from the speakers. The little jujube girl looked over at King Candy and winked before hopping down from the DJ booth.

King Candy's grin instantly fell to a grimace. He wasn't used to dancing with a partner unless it involved grinding up on each other but that was defiantly not the type of dance that Jubileena was hinting at.

The other people around them slowly began to pair off into couples and began to dance in ballroom style dancing.

Lorain seemed to get the same feeling and awkwardly that he felt but cautiously took a step closer to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and held his hand in her free one while his other hand rested on her hip. The two began to dance and slowly eased into a comfortable rhythm of steps.

Jubileena and Candlehead sighed from the sidelines, watching the two from a nearby table.

"You interrupted my favorite song for this?" Rancis asked, hands on his hips.

"Sh!" Candlehead hissed sharply, "We're watching our masterpiece play itself out."

"They're so cute together," Jubileena sighs, chin resting in her palms.

"Hey Swizzle, check out this gag-fest," Rancis says with a chuckle but when his friends doesn't answer the looks around, "Swizzle?"

"Sorry, man. She got to me first…" Swizzle shrugs from the dance floor as he danced with Minty.

"Oh come on!" Rancis groans.

Taffyta walks over to his side and shakes her head, popping the lollypop out of her mouth, "Wanna dance, Fluggerbutter?"

He looked over at her in shock, "Seriously?"

"Your window of opportunity is closing," Taffyta glares at him.

"I'll take what I can get," he smiles and takes her hand in his, pulling her out onto the dance floor.


	22. Am I Out Of My Mind?

Jubileena smiled smugly to herself as she sat at Lorain's side, "So how's your date going?"

Lorain looked down at the shorter girl and gave a crooked smile, "My date is none of your business, Miss. Bing-Bing." But Lorain leaned in slightly and whispered, "But just between you and me I'm having a pretty good time."

The Jujube girl giggled and her nose scrunched up as she smiled widely, "I knew you would have fun tonight."

"And what does that mean?" Lorain asks skeptically.

Jubileena's smile dropped instantly, "I-I dunno…I-uh…Just um…Look its Rancis doing the Harlem Shake!" The girl pointed wildly into the crowd of people.

"What?" Lorain questioned, spinning around to see what Jubileena was pointing at but saw nothing close to what Jubileena had said was there, "I don't see any…" Lorain turned to see that Jubileena had fled and her face fell expressionless, "…thing…"

King Candy hopped up onto the chair Jubileena once sat it and handed Lorain a root beer, straight from _Tappers_, "What's up with you, Toots? Something wrong?"

Lorain smiled slightly at Turbo's slang before taking a drink of the root beer, "Nothing, just Jubileena being weird."

"Well I never really did like the little cavities…" King Candy says blandly, taking a drink of his root beer without taking his eyes off her.

Her nose scrunched up, "What's so bad about em?"

King Candy's smirk returned and he ignored her question, "You're doing that thing with your nose again."

A blush creeps up the back of her neck, staining her pale cheeks a light pink. Her crooked smile grows, "You know…I can't even think of what I was going to say…"

"Good," King Candy smiles and takes another drink from his root beer. He had built a tolerance up to the stuff years ago after the root beer-blasts he threw back in Turbo Time.

Lorain does the same, creating a calming buzz in the back of her mind. Then suddenly her nose scrunches up, "Hey, how did you get this stuff in here? This is a kiddie game and everyone else in this candy-coated place is underage. How'd you manage to get it past Surge-Protector Guy?"

"I slipped him a few bottles," King Candy smirked before looking over towards the doors of the castle, it was time to take the racers' advice, "Hey uh…do you want to head out? Maybe go for a drive to Cake-Mountain or something?"

"Mm…sure, sounds like fun," Lorain smiles and gets to her feet and brushed off her dress, "My car or yours?"

"We'll take yours but I'll drive," King Candy says, holding out a hand.

"Alright! Let's go," Lorain's grin grows and she grabs a hold of King Candy's outstretched hand.

The two of them reached her car and climbed inside with ease, King Candy in the driver seat. Soon the car was racing down the pathway towards Cake Mountain.

* * *

"Gingersnaps!" Citrusella snaps, landing on her face as she tripped over _**-yet another**_ **- **candy cane tree root.

"Hurry up! We have to get to the taffy swamp before Candlehead gives us the signal to set off the cherry bombs!" Snowanna whines.

"Sorry if falling and denting my face in, is slowing you down," the fallen racer snaps sarcastically.

"Why yes it is slowing me down, now hurry up!" Snowanna dashes up ahead as the other girl got to her feet.

"I'm coming, Snowflake. Don't get your snow-fro in a bunch," Citrusella rolls her eyes and darts after the other racer.

* * *

The drive to the mountain was quick and soon the two of them were sitting on the top of the mountain on a salmon-pink plaid blanket.

King Candy tapped his foot nervously on the ground as he sat at Lorain's side, "So…nice night, huh?"

Lorain sent him a look and she smirked, "Our game has a day-time setting. How'd you get it to get so dark out?"

King Candy remembered what had taken him so long to get down to her room. He was busying working away in the secret coding room so the cherry bombs would be more visible. It had taken him a while to figure out how to change the settings but he managed just fine after a while of looking around.

He looked over at her, "I have my ways."

Lorain just smiled and looked back out at the star filled sky. The graphics were simply beautiful in the night-time setting.

Then suddenly there was a sizzling sound from somewhere in the forest below and a ball of light shot far into the sky before it exploded in an array of different colors.

Lorain's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "Oh, wow…"

Three more cherry bombs were launched into the air and exploded in the distance.

King Candy was in awe and a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, "Thank you, Candlehead."

"Hm?" Lorain questioned, looking over at him.

"Nothing," King Candy spoke quickly and looked back out at the sky.

The licorice girl let out a calming sigh and leaned into King Candy's side, her head resting on his shoulder. He looked down at her and blinked before slowly putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight. I really needed some time to just think," Lorain says, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"About what?" He asks, resting his head on top of hers as more cherry bombs shot into the sky.

"Vanellope," Lorain's brow furrows as she speaks, "I have this feeling deep down that I know her from somewhere. My head says I don't know her but my heart says I do and it all just…gives me an upset stomach…"

King Candy's smile turns to a frown within seconds, "Maybe it's best to not think about it."

"But that's the thing," the licorice racer sighs, "The more I try to not think about her the more that I do. I feel like there's this part of me that knows she's important to me in some way but I can't remember her at all. Do you think I could've gotten into an accident that made me forget about her or something? Like, maybe I hit my head and it damaged my memory coding? Can stuff like that happen…?"

Her words made him uneasy, like something was clawing at the inside of his stomach, "Maybe…"

"But why would I just forget about just Vanellope? Why not the racers or…or you? Why Vanellope? What I wouldn't give to just know what _**happened**_ to make me forget…" Lorain just shook her head and sighed, "Sorry, I started rambling again. Just forget I said anything."

King Candy closed his eyes, images of the glitch crackling in his brain. Guilt immediately washed over him as he imagined the little girl sad and alone wherever she goes. Lorain was her only friend. The only person she had left. Who was he to take that away from her?

He let out a breath and slowly shook his head, "I just know that I'm going to regret this…" King Candy hopped to his feet, "I have to get going."

"What? But we just got here," Lorain's smile fell as she too got to her feet.

"I-I know…" King Candy cringed slightly, "But it's urgent. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Lorain's shoulders slumped in defeat and she slowly nodded, "Okay…" Her eyes went back over to him and she smiled weakly, "Well…I had fun tonight."

"I did too…It's the most fun I've had in a long time," King Candy smiles back but sighs and looks back towards the car, "Do you want a drive back to the castle?"

Lorain shook her head and turned her attention back to the sky, "I'd rather just sit out here for a little while longer. And don't worry about me, I'll walk home later."

"You sure?" he asks as he opens the driver door to her car.

"Yeah I'm sure," she says as he hops in the car.

He starts the car and sighs, why of all times did he have to suddenly gain a conscious?

"Wait!" Lorain calls, running over to the car and bringing him back to reality.

"What is it?" King Candy asks but it cut off when Lorain kisses him. It was nothing special, just a simple little peck on the lips before she pulled away.

"Goodnight, Turbo," Lorain smiles and stands back up tall.

"Goodnight, Lorain…" He blinks before smiling and driving back down the mountain towards the castle.

He glanced in the rear-view mirror as Lorain walked back to where they were sitting before and plopped down on the blanket.

He let out a sigh and shook his head, "Am I out of my mind?"

But the truth was…he didn't want to answer his own question.

* * *

_**A/N: Hm...What exactly is King Candy planning on doing? I'm sure you already know but I may as well ask.**_

_**Anyway, hello my friends. Sorry to have taken a little while but I've been busy with school. Otherwise this little chapter here would have been up a few days ago. Oops. **_

_**But here you go. Next chapter shouldn't be too far behind so keep an eye out!**_


	23. I Remember You

King Candy bit his lip as he stalked through his throne room which was now empty, what was he thinking?! After all the work he had done and he was just going to throw it all away for that little brat, Vanellope?!

No…He told himself. Not for her. For Lorain.

But how much should he restore? He certainly couldn't give her everything back. Just parts. Bits and pieces.

He threw open the purple curtain and walked down the luminescent hallway, "Sour Bill!"

The green warhead shuffled into the hallway immediately and looked at him, "Yes, Sir…?"

"Hand me the licorice rope," King Candy instructed, opening the secret passage immediately.

Sour Bill nodded and tied the rope around King Candy's middle. The king dove into the black void without hesitation this time, floating over to the Easter-Egg section of the void. He pressed the block and two others opened, reading off the twin's names.

King Candy pressed Lorain's and the controller materialised out of thin air. He pulled the pink paper from his pocket and pressed the buttons accordingly.

The block opened immediately and he clicked on the memory block, its contents spilling around him.

Now that the block was open he floated over towards the corners of the void until he spotted the tiny block in the distance, crackling and glitching from being abused and King Candy felt a twang of guilt in his chest as he swam over to it. He pressed the block and the memories flashed around him. His eyes scanned each memory until he spotted the one he needed.

Princess.

The simple word stood out from the others and King Candy ripped it from the memory block before closing it up, the memories retreating back inside the barrier. He tossed the extra block behind him and picked up the block reading 'Vanellope' before gliding back over to Lorain's memory block.

He looked at the block in his hands and shook his head, "What am I doing…?"

Then his fingers released their grip and Vanellope's block was sucked back inside Lorain's memory core.

Lorain sat on the blanket staring out at the star filled sky. The cherry bombs had long since stopped and she sat there listening to the calming melody of her game.

Then something in her brain cracked and buzzed making her wince, clenching her eyes closed as if she had been hit. There was a spark in her head and then nothing, like she was a computer who had been unplugged. She felt nothing. She saw nothing. She heard nothing.

_**The two of them sat on top of the castle, staring out at the candy kingdom. The sky was filled with an odd array of cotton candy clouds as they quietly drifted in the sweet scented winds of Sugar Rush.**_

_**Vanellope kicked her legs back and forth as she stared out at the sky, "I always loved the view up here…"**_

_**Lorain looked down at her hands and then smiled back at Vanellope, "Yeah, it really is nice up here."**_

_**The small girl scooted a bit closer to Lorain and she smiled brightly up at her, "You know…I've never told anyone this before but always thought of you as my big sister, Lorain."**_

_**Lorain smiled brightly and hugged Vanellope tightly, smiling into her hair, "I love you, Van."**_

_**Vanellope's bright brown eyes blinked once before she hugged the licorice racer back. Her tiny hands gripping onto Lorain's cardigan as if when she let go Lorain would disappear. She smiled and closed her eyes, "I love you too, Lori…"**_

Lorain's eyes suddenly flash open and thousands of images flashed before her eyes.

"_**I can't believe I let you win again!"**_

Racing.

Sleepovers.

Pillow Fights.

"_**Quiet, Lori. Puff-Pants might hear you."**_

Dancing.

Smiling.

Play-fights.

"_**Why c-can't I leave the g-game…?"**_

Kidding.

Joking.

"_**I waited here in the cave for nothing?"**_

Fighting.

Making up.

"_**It's this huge maze, deep in the candy-corn fields. It's so big! The last time I went in it I got lost forever!"**_

Looking at the clouds.

"_**I've always thought of you as my big sister."**_

Playing pranks on Bowser.

Going through the maze.

"_**I love you, Lorain."**_

Lorain gasped, tears dripping down her pale face.

"I remember you."


	24. What's Not To Like?

The only thing on her mind was Vanellope as she ran down the window road towards Diet-Cola Mountain. Her dress fluttered out behind her, she mentally thanked herself for leaving her high tops on so she wouldn't have to take off some weird pair of high heels to run.

Lorain passed through the arch she had made out of the sugar free lollypops and into Vanellope's home. She looked around urgently as she ran, "Vanellope? Van, are you here?"

"Lorain…?" Vanellope's voice came from her room and Lorain spun around to see a very tired looking Vanellope rubbing her eyes, "What are you doing here? It's late…"

"Vanellope…" That's when the tears started up again and Lorain ran at Vanellope, gathering the small girl into her arms and hugged her tightly, "Vanellope."

Vanellope looked at her uncomfortably, "Lorain? What's going on?"

"I remember, Van," Lorain sobbed, smiling into her black candy covered hair, "I remember everything."

Vanellope was stunned for a moment before her eyes clenched closed defiantly, "How do I know you didn't just-"

"I always used to hate it when you played with the falling Mentos. You saved me from the Fungeon when I was just about to give up on myself," Lorain smiled as she recalled each memory, "You'd love it when I took you out for drives in my car but I always used to laugh at you because it made you sound like you were a dog."

Vanellope felt her bottom lip tremble.

"We always used to watch the clouds on top of the castle. You didn't like to admit it but you always thought I was your big sister," the licorice girl hugged Vanellope close, "And I never liked to admit it either but I always thought you were like my little sister too…cause…I love you, Van."

Vanellope instantly hugged Lorain tightly and let the tears fall freely, "Lorain…You're back."

"Yeah…I'm back," Lorain smiles and gently pushes Vanellope back, looking into her brown eyes, "Are you alright? I didn't scare you when I forgot about you, did I?"

Vanellope shakes her head stiffly and smiled, wiping the tears away with her sleeve, "I k-knew that you wouldn't be gone forever. I mean, who can forget a girl like me? I'm adorable."

"There's the Vanellope I know," Lorain wipes her own tears away.

Vanellope instantly hugs the taller girl around her middle and smiles, "I missed you, Lori."

"I missed you too, Kid," Lorain hugs her back and kisses the top of her head, "I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I was actually working on something," Vanellope says before hopping back and grinning, "Did you wanna see it?"

"Oh course I wanna see it!" Lorain says, getting back onto her feet.

"Then come on!" Vanellope tugs at the bottom of Lorain's dress.

Lorain instantly follows her, not wanting to waste another moment with Vanellope. When they got into the main room, Lorain was surprised to see a peddle-kart at the foot of Vanellope's bed. The older racer blinked, "Vanellope…what's this?"

"It's my kart!" Vanellope grins and hops in the kart, peddling it just to prove a point, "I made it all by myself. You like it?"

Lorain couldn't help but smile at Vanellope's enthusiasm, "I think you did a wonderful job. Does it work?"

"Of course it works," Vanellope scoffs, "I made it, didn't I?"

Lorain chuckles and walks over, kneeling down and running her hand over the kart's base. It looked sturdy enough to ride around in, but would it be able to go fast enough?

"You think I can get into the roster with her?" Vanellope asks, climbing out of the kart.

"Her?" The licorice girl questions, rising to her full height.

"Yep. I named her the Lickety-Split!" Vanellope smiles brightly.

"Well…I think it might pass as a kart…" Lorain says thoughtfully, "The hard part is getting that coin to get into the qualifying roster."

"Yes! I'm going to race!" Vanellope cheered, hopping up and down.

Lorain smiled down at her, "Don't get too excited. You need-"

"A coin, I know," the shorter girl rolled her eyes.

"Wait, why didn't you show me the kart before?" Lorain asks, brow furrowing.

"When you were all cozy with King Candy I was afraid you might tell him I had a kart and would take it from me like he did before," Vanellope says, rubbing her arm.

Lorain frowned, would she have done that? Maybe she would have when she first forgot everything but she had still been Vanellope's friend right? Wasn't she? Even though she was best friends with King Candy she…wait. King Candy wasn't her best friend, was he? It was a part of her memory loss. That was why he was acting so weird when she started being so nice to him. But when they went skating, that wasn't acting…was it? Or was being kind and sweet just a part of his lies to make her stay away from Vanellope?

Vanellope's giggles brought her back to reality.

"What?" Lorain asks.

"You look like a princess," Vanellope smiles, gesturing to Lorain as she leans against her kart.

Lorain looked up and placed her hand on her head, feeling the red tiara on her head. She lowered her hands back down, the crown tightly in her grasp, "King Candy gave me this…"

"It looks nice on you," Vanellope smiles.

"I suppose so…" Lorain says before placing it back on her head.

Vanellope was quiet for a moment and then she looked down at her hands, "You have to go now…don't you?"

"Yeah, I have some things to sort out with the king," Lorain glanced towards the exit before looking back at Vanellope, "But you keep an eye out for any coins, eh?"

Vanellope nods before hugging Lorain around her middle, "I will. Come back tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright," Lorain says, gently prying Vanellope off of her before backing towards the exit, "See you later, Van."

"Bye," Vanellope smiles before retreating back into her room, curling up into her bed for a much needed rest.

Lorain however was wide awake as she left Diet-Cola Mountain and headed straight towards the castle for a much needed talk with the current ruler of Sugar Rush.

* * *

She didn't even bother knocking, pushing straight into the throne room and down the hallway towards the king's bedroom where he was surely to be.

Sour Bill noticed the girl stomping past him and spoke up, "Hello, Lorain-"

"Not in the mood, warhead. I'll talk with you about my brother's visit to the castle, tomorrow. Right now I have to have a little talk with King Candy," Lorain snapped harshly at him.

Bill coiled back and scuttled off to a different part of the castle, not wanting to get in Lorain's way when she got angry.

Lorain walked up to his bedroom doors and went to shove them open only to find them locked tightly. Her nose turned up and she began banging on the doors loudly with her fists.

There was noise from inside before the doors open, revealing a tired looking King Candy. His eyes locked on her, "Oh it's you. I guess I didn't need my disgu-"

Lorain cut him off when she shoved her way past him and into his bedroom, closing the door behind her and locking it before she turned to him angrily, "You were taking advantage of me this whole time, weren't you?"

His brow furrowed, "I don't know what you mean…"

"Oh drop the little innocent act," Lorain snapped before adding, "And get rid of that stupid disguise too."

King Candy glared back at her but did as he was told and glitched back to his normal self, "Don't talk to me like that."

"I'll talk to you however I want to talk to you. You're not the real ruler so you have no power over me!" Lorain snaps, sending him back the same angry glare, "So when exactly were you planning on telling me that we weren't actually friends for all those years? Huh?"

Turbo's face scrunched up, "I didn't think it mattered! It was either that or having you yell at me all the time!"

"Well look at where lying got you!" Lorain crossed her arms, "You got exactly what you didn't want!"

"I don't see why you're so mad at me!" Turbo makes an exasperated noise.

"I'm _**mad**_ because I don't know why I hated you in the first place!" Her brow furrows as she yells, "I remember hating you before I forgot Vanellope but I don't know why! That's what's bugging me! Because all that time you spent with me skating, at the anniversary party and up on the mountain when I was sharing my feelings with you, I had no clue who I was actually with because I had forgotten over half of my life! Now I don't know what to believe because lying just comes so easily to you, so what was to stop you from lying to me all that time? Was it some act you were putting on to try and impress me or something? Just…Just tell me!"

Turbo shook with anger. _**No one**_ had _**ever **_spoken to him like that before and this_** girl**_ was certainly not going to get away with it right now, "I don't know what's going on in that mind of your right now, Toots, but I'll tell you right now that you're wrong. Sure lying is easy for me to do but it's different when it comes to dealing with you. Half of the time I can't even think straight and just when I think I've got it all figured out you go and start changing your mind and I have to rethink everything all over again! So I'm telling you right now, that the person you were with all that time was me. I may not be perfect but it's the real me! So just deal with it and stop trying to make everything about you all the time!"

"_**I'm **_trying to make everything about _**me**_?" Lorain gaped at him, "Who's the one that came into my game and made himself the king, huh? Was it Sour Bill? What about Rancis? No, wait, I think it was Swizzle. Or maybe-"

"What is wrong with you? You're lashing out at me for no reason!" Turbo tosses his helmet to the floor out of anger.

"Maybe it's cause even though you're a pain in my molasses, I still like you and it's fudging frustrating!" Lorain glares at him but realisation hits her and she goes quiet.

Turbo narrows his eyes at her curiously, a smile playing on his lips, "What did you just say?"

"N-Nothing," Lorain says quickly, avoiding his eyes.

"No, I could have sworn I heard you say that you liked me," Turbo's smile grew into a smirk.

"I can't recall saying that," she snuck a glance at him and it only made her cheeks heat up.

"You like me, Toots. Admit it," he says, taking a step closer to her, "Just say it."

"No," Lorain says, angrily turning away again.

"You're sorta cute when you're mad."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are. You're adorable," Turbo snickers.

"I'm not cute and I'm not adorable!" Lorain snaps, her shoulders shrugging up over her ears as if it would hide her blush.

"Okay. You don't have to admit that you're adorable. You just have to admit that you like me."

"No!" Lorain snaps, looking over at him.

Turbo pouts his lips and mimics her, "No!"

"Stop mimicking me," Lorain glares at him but a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"Stop mimicking me," Turbo repeats in a high-pitched voice.

"I don't sound like that!" Lorain's laughter bubbles over and she shoves him playfully away from her.

"I don't sound like that," Turbo says in the same shrill voice.

Lorain sat down on the edge of the bed and shook her head before looking over at him, "Okay…maybe I like you a little."

"I knew it!" Turbo shouts in victory, "You're totally in love with me."

"Whoa, I am not," Lorain blinks, "I said I liked you, not that I agreed to marriage or something."

"Oh, a proposal can't be too far behind, Toots. One can only be around me for so long before they fall madly in love with me," Turbo strikes a pose and bats his eyelashes.

Lorain laughs and chucks a pillow at him. It hits him and he stumbles over before landing face first on the bed. She smirked and poked his head, "You're so weird."

He turned his head to the side and looked up at her before grinning, "I know, but that's why you love me."

Lorain rolls her eyes and gets up from her spot on the bed, "Well I'm going to go to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow after the roster race."

"You could stay in here for tonight if you want," Turbo says before pouting, "It gets so lonely in my bed all by myself."

"In your dreams," Lorain laughs, opening his door and stepping out into the hallway.

"No, Toots," Turbo says, sitting up in his bed and smirking, "In _**your**_ dreams."

Lorain flushed and closed the door behind her. She immediately turned and began walking down the hallway, laughing quietly to herself as she blushed, "He is one strange little man…"


	25. I'm In The Race!

_**Knock Knock Knock**_

Lorain's eyes fluttered open and she propped herself up on her elbows, "Come in."

Turbo walked into her room, a smile on her face, "Hey, sleepyhead."

"Oh, it's you," she dropped back onto the pillow and pulled the blankets over her head, "I'm gonna go back to sleep now."

Turbo pursed his lips and walked over to her bed, tossing the blankets off of her, "No you're not. You're going to get out of bed."

Lorain was face down on her pillow, her voice muffled, "The sun burns."

"It does not," he kicked her mattress with his foot.

She grumbled and sat up before rolling out of bed and standing up, "Happy now?"

"Very, now hurry up and get dressed, the roster race is soon," Turbo says, glitching into his 'King Candy' disguise.

Lorain felt on top of her head and took off the tiara that had managed to stay up there all night, setting it on the dresser. She began to comb out her hair when she suddenly looked over at him, "Since when do I have to be ready for the roster race? I don't have to be up for that."

"You do when you're my own personal cheerleader," He grins and pulls out two red pom-poms from behind his back and shakes them enthusiastically.

"Whoa, what?" Lorain gapes at him, "I don't think so. Where did this little idea of your even come from?" As she spoke she ushered him out the door and closed it so she could get changed.

"Well, since you like me and all I would assume you'd want me to win the races, right?" King Candy said through the door, "What better way than to cheer me on?"

"Well wouldn't you just use the shortcut if you wanted to win that bad?" Lorain asked as if it was obvious.

"Because I-Wait, what?" His eyes widened and he stared at the door, "Shortcut? What shortcut?"

"You know all the danger signs in Ice Cream Mountain that lead off that cliff?" Lorain's voice says, muffled through the door, "Well it's actually a secret pathway that takes you straight to the rainbow bridge."

"It is?" He blinks in shock.

"Yep, I found it the first day I began racing. I thought it was a miracle that I didn't crash," Lorain said, opening the door and shoving the pom-poms back in his face, "And it's going to be a miracle if you get me out on the track with those stupid pom-poms."

"Come on, do it for me," King Candy pouted.

Lorain smirked, "Nice try, but you look way cuter when you're not an old guy trying to hit on me."

"I can change that," King Candy smirks, glitching into his Turbo form but wore his King Candy outfit, "Ta-da!"

Lorain giggled and looked down the hallway quickly, "Hurry up and change back before someone sees you."

"Not until you agree to be my cheerleader," he smiles, his yellow eyes glowing brightly.

"Turbo, that's not funny, I think I hear someone," Lorain looked down the hallway, listening as the clicking of someone's shoes could be heard.

"Hurry up, they might see me," his grin only grew.

"Turbo…fine!" She says, "Whatever, just change back."

"Seal the deal with a kiss," Turbo's smile turns smug in an instant.

"What?" Lorain says, the footsteps getting louder, "Just change back!"

"I'm waiting," he taunts.

"Oh, for the love of-" She gripped the collar of his jacket and pulled him towards her. The instant their lips touched she felt him glitch back to his King Candy form.

"What is going on in here?"

Lorain pulled back and looked over, her eyes locking with her brother's.

"Landon…?" She gaped at him, "What's with the cloak?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Landon snapped, pulling down the hood of his cloak, ignoring her remark.

"I…don't know what you mean…" Lorain says, putting the pom-poms behind her back.

Landon snatched her wrist and pulled them out from behind her back, "What are these?"

"Pom-poms," she jerked her arms back from her brother, "Don't act like you're stupid because we both know that you're not."

"You really don't know, do you…? You've got to be kidding me!" Landon snapped, poking his sister in the chest right in between her collar bones.

"What are you talking about?" Lorain says, taking a step back.

"You're too blind to see it, aren't you?" The cloaked racer snaps, "He's using you!"

"…What?"

"He got into your coding and changed stuff around so you'd forget Vanellope! He's been using you this whole time!" Landon says, clearly exasperated, "At first I thought he was just going to change your coding to make you forget the little glitch but now I see he wanted to replace her with himself! I thought you'd recognise the crown as soon as you saw it!"

"The crown…?" Lorain asked slowly, "You mean the red tiara he gave me?"

"He didn't give you the tiara. I did!" Landon snapped, "I got the little sourpuss to give it to you!"

"Bill?" King Candy questions.

"What does the crown have to do with any of this?" Lorain winced slightly at her brother's tone.

"I thought once you saw the crown you would remember but I guess I was wrong!" Landon barred his teeth angrily, "King Candy isn't what he seems! He's tricking you, Lorain! He's not who he says he is!"

King Candy's eyes snapped from Lorain to her brother as they yelled.

"And who does he say he is? Who is he lying about being?" Lorain challenges.

"King Candy," Landon says, feeling proud with himself, "He's actually T-"

"Turbo," Lorain finishes.

Surprise masks Landon's face, "What did you just say?"

"Turbo? From the game Turbo-Time? You know…" Lorain grinned for show and threw her arms up in the air in victory, waving her pom-poms, "Turbotastic!"

Landon's eyes were wide, "How did you…?"

"How did I know?" Lorain asks before glancing at King Candy, "He told me." Then she smirked at Landon and poked him in the chest as he had done to her moments ago, "Is there anything else you'd like to accuse him of?"

He was silent, staring at his twin in shock.

"No? Well if you would excuse me, King Candy and I have to get down to the track. The roster race is in five minutes," the female racer grins and King Candy immediately takes her hand in his. They both turn and walk towards the door. As they left, Lorain called out over her shoulder, "Have a Turbotastic day, brother!"

Then the door closed behind them, leaving a very stunned and angry Landon Licorice-Twist in the castle's hallway.

King Candy looks over at Lorain as the two of them drove side by side in their cars, zooming down towards the race track. He grinned and called out to her, "Thanks for sticking up for me back there!"

Lorain smirked over at him, "If I didn't, you would've punched my brother's face in. I didn't have much choice, now did I?"

"Yeah, I probably would've decked him pretty good," King Candy returned her smirk as he drove his car onto the track and parked it in the starting line-up.

Lorain parked her own car behind the stands that the fans sat in and hopped out, fluffing out her red curls as she walked swiftly over to the track, "Just try not to pick any fights with him. It'll only make things worse."

"I'll try but I won't make any promises," King Candy says, climbing out of his own car and the two begin walking over to his reserved seating area.

"So exactly how is thing gonna work?" Lorain asks as they ascend a small staircase to get into the small booth, "The whole 'roster race' thing? Cause isn't Litwak taking today off?"

"Yeah, he's taking the day off for his nephew's birthday, so we won't be racing until tomorrow. Might as well get the race over with though," King Candy says, taking a seat on the throne that sat in his on private seating area.

"You just want an excuse to race, don't you?" The licorice racer smirks at him.

"What can I say? Racing is in my code, Toots," King Candy smirk's back, staring out at the track.

Lorain looked at the track as well as the other racers pulled their cars up into the starting lineup and hopped out before stepping up in front of King Candy's booth.

Sour Bill cleared his throat, holding a microphone as he stood in the booth for everyone to see. Everyone immediately turned to listen.

"Citizens of Sugar Rush," Sour Bill says, "Our rightful ruler…"

King Candy leans close to Lorain and whispers, "Oh second, Toots."

"King Candy."

He springs to his feet, bursting with enthusiasm as candy flies from his hands, "Hello my loyal subjects, ha ha!" He tosses more candy at the crowds, "Have some candy!"

Lorain giggles at how eccentric he was, bouncing around like he was on a sugar-high.

"Thank you for that stirring introduction, Sour Bill!" He cheers although 'Sour bill' sounded more along the lines of 'Thour Bell' than anything else.

"Mmhm…" Sour Bill says blandly before hopping down off the bleachers and off towards wherever it was that he went every day.

But as her eyes followed him she noticed a girl in a sea foam green hoodie huddled under one of the bleachers. Lorain's brow furrows and she mutters, "Vanellope…?"

"And thank you to today's avatars! It was a wonderful day of racing, but now the arcade is closed so it's time to wipe the slate clean and race to decide our new roster!" King Candy cheers and as seen on the big screen the images of the day's nine racers disappeared and were replaced with pink question marks.

The girl in the hoodie shuffled over to the side of the bleachers and pulled something shiny out of her hoodie, turning over the metallic object in her hands.

Lorain gasped, "A gold coin…But how did she…?"

"The first nine racers across that finish line will represent Sugar Rush as tomorrow's avatars!"

King Candy continued chuckling as the crowd of NPCs began chanting 'race' over and over again.

"Calm down, calm down," King candy ushered them to quiet themselves, "Listen! This event is pay to play, we all know this, the fee to compete is one gold coin from your previous winnings, if you've ever won." He grinned before adding, "Ha, I know I have, hoo hoo! Let me go first!"

He extended an arm and grabbed a red licorice rope, giving it a swift tug and instantly a target lowered and King Candy made a gold coin appear in his hand before he tossed it out in front of him. The coin landed on the target and it launched the coin high on top of the finish line and into the gold cup. As soon as the gold coin landed inside it dissolved into pixels.

Lorain watched as the hooded girl darted out from the safety of the bleachers and she began pushing a covered contraption onto the track where the other cars were parked.

King Candy's name was written across the qualifier's board and the announcer's voice boomed across Sugar Rush_**, "King Candy!"**_

King Candy then snapped on a pair of gloves and turned back to Lorain, "Told ya it wouldn't take long."

"Oh…" Lorain's attention snapped back to him and she smiled, "So when's the race?"

"This afternoon, the other racers need some time to practice, unlike me," King Candy smirked, making Lorain chuckle.

"_**Taffyta Muttonfudge!"**_ The announcer boomed then moments later called out, _**"Adorableezle Winterpop!"**_

By now the hooded figure had pushed her contraption onto the track and stood back to make sure it wouldn't start rolling anywhere.

"Back…" Sour Bill said blandly, reappearing next to Lorain.

Lorain jumped and looked down at him, "You scared me…"

"Sorry…" he muttered.

"_**Gloyd Orangeboar!"**_ The announcer continued.

"Where did you go, anyway?" Lorain asked him as King Candy began looking for his goggles.

"_**Torvlad Batterbutter!"**_

"Nowhere…" The warhead muttered.

"_**Nougetsia Brumberstain!"**_

"Were you off with my brother again?" Lorain asked, clearly unamused.

"Your brother was here before?" King Candy immediately looked over at her as he pulled on his helmet.

"_**Sticky Wipplesnap!"**_

"Yeah, I saw Landon and Bill talking in the throne room a few days ago," Lorain said, glaring at Sour Bill.

"_**Minty Zaki!"**_

"Why wasn't I informed of this?" King Candy asked, clearly upset.

"_**Snowanna Rainbeau!"**_

"Sorry but you were busy with a roster race," Lorain shrugged and King Candy looked content with his answer.

"_**Rancis Fluggerbutter!" **_

"So, Sour Bill, what were you talking about…?" King candy trailed off when he saw the warhead had vanished. He looked around the bleachers, "He's gone…"

"_**Jubileena Bing-Bing!"**_

"Lorain, where did you see where he went?" When he didn't get a response, he looked over at the licorice girl who had her eyes locked on the hooded girl, "Lorain?"

"_**Citrusella Plugpucker!"**_

"Hm?" Lorain questioned, not having heard what he said.

"_**Swizzle Malarkey!"**_

"What are you looking at?" King Candy asked her and turned to see that Lorain had been staring at the girl in the sea foam green hoodie.

"_**Candlehead!"**_

The girl in the hoodie seemed to kiss the gold coin for good luck before tossing the gold coin up onto the target. The coin immediately shot up and hit the rim of the large gold cup before rolling around the edge a few times.

King candy pulled his goggles on and adjusted them, "Lorain…? Who's that last one?"

The coin slowly rolled over and landed into the trophy, dissolving into hundreds of pixels.

"**Vanellope Von Schweetz!" **

Her name was written across the board with all of the other racers and she immediately whipped around, pulling down her hood and throwing off her goggles. She hopped up and down happily, "Yippee! I'm in the race!"

"Vanellope!?" King Candy was instantly consumed in fear.

Lorain's grin grew and she let out a surprised laugh, "She actually did it…"


	26. Wreck-It Ralph?

The NPCs immediately began to panic, gasping at the 'glitch' that had somehow gotten a gold coin and bought her way into the race.

Vanellope's brown eyes met Lorain's in an instant, a grin spreading across her face.

"The glitch!" Taffyta snapped as she ripped the tarp off of the object on the race track, revealing Vanellope's pedal powered kart.

That's when Vanellope noticed the fear and panic unravelling around her.

"Now, now, calm down. Everything is alright," King Candy tried to calm down his subjects, before turning to the track and yelling, "Security!"

Lorain looked over at King Candy in shock, "What are you doing? Vanellope's my friend!"

"Come here, kid!" One of the pudgy police officers said, stepping up to Vanellope.

"She can't race, Lori, you know that," King Candy said, turning to Lorain and seeing the distressed look on her face.

"We're not gonna hurt you, ya little freak!" Wynnchel snapped, running at Vanellope.

The young girl let out a yelp and turned, running off towards the other side of the track, glitching out of pure fright.

"Look what you did!" Lorain cried, shoving King Candy backwards in anger, "I'll talk to you about this later!" The licorice girl jumped off the bleachers and landed with a grunt before taking off after the police officers, "I'm coming, Vanellope!"

King Candy stumbled back into his throne and growled, staring after Lorain. Her feelings for the glitch were starting to annoy him. He began regretting returning Lorain's memories of the princess almost instantly.

Lorain dropped the pom-poms she was holding and ran after Duncan and Wynnchel as they chased Vanellope towards the lollypop trees.

"You!" The loud voice scared all of the citizens of Sugar Rush into silence. A large monster coated in green laffy taffy appeared from the lolly pop trees, "Give me back my metal right now!" The creature was easily over nine feet tall and was coated in candy.

"What is that?" King Candy squinted his eyes at the creature.

Everyone began screaming now, in shock and fright, taking off in different directions. Lorain stood in shock as the monster towered over her but just as he got close enough to crush her he ran right past her. Lorain was shocked for a moment and then turned, instantly realising that the monster was not after her, but Vanellope.

Lorain gasped and ran after both of them, "Vanellope, run!"

The small girl darted under one of the bleachers but it was instantly flipped over by the monster so she ran under another one and soon the majority of the bleachers were flipped onto their sides, the inhabitants of the bleachers were everywhere.

"Stop it! What-what are you doing!?" King Candy yelled in rage and fright, throwing his arms wildly in the direction of the monster as if it would make it stop.

Lorain reached the end of the bleachers just before the monster did and climbed up the cupcake tower that sat on the end. She bit her lip, "Maybe if I get to the top, I can push the cupcake on top of him…"

Her gloved hands pulled her up on top of the large chocolate cupcake and she was ready to push it over until the monster himself came plowing into the tower and sent the cupcake, and Lorain, flying into the air.

Lorain gripped into the vanilla frosting and screamed as she went soaring into the air and then back down, landing successfully on top of the monster. The licorice girl raised her arms in victory as she watched Vanellope take off into the lollypop forest, safe from harm's way.

The laffy taffy monster growled from underneath her and he thrashed around, "Can't move!"

"Now we got him," Duncan smiled, rushing over with Wynnchel at his side.

"Oh good, the cops," The monster sighed, "She went that way!"

Lorain blinked in surprise and hopped off the cupcake just as the police officers began beating him with their dark-chocolate batons.

"Ow! What are you doing!?" The monster snapped, trying to shield himself from their blows.

"Okay folks!" King Candy called out, getting Lorain's attention, "Calm down! Everything is alright. The monster has been caught. We will repair all the damage. Don't worry, we will have our race before the arcade opens!"

Lorain let out a sigh, rubbing her arm as she watched King Candy fume from his spot on hi private booth. What was she supposed to say to him?

"Sour Bill, that GLITCH cannot be allowed to race," King Candy snaps, looking over at the warhead before smashing the microphone down in anger onto the ground before pointing at the monster, "And bring that…that THING to my castle!"

I was faintly aware of the police electrocuting the monster and then rolling him off towards the castle.

Lorain stood awkwardly on the track as King Candy and Sour Bill walked down from the booth. When they reached the track King Candy noticed Lorain and waved Sour Bill on, "You go ahead. I'll meet you p at the castle in a moment."

Sour Bill gave a nod and shuffled off by himself.

Lorain rubbed her arm as King Candy approached her, regarding him with weary eyes, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just that Vanellope's my friend, Turbo. I don't want to see her get hurt."

King Candy nibbled his bottom lip and looked up at her, "But if she races today and manages to get into the racing roster she will get hurt. I'm only trying to protect her, Lorain. You know I only do what's best for my people. If the gamers pick Vanellope and see her glitching, and glitching, just being herself, our game will be put out of order and will get unplugged. All of my subjects will be homeless except for the one who can't leave…"

A memory flashed in Lorain's eyes.

_**Vanellope shrieked in surprise, falling backwards onto her butt.**_

"_**Vanellope!" Lorain says in shock, reaching out and helping her up as she kneeled down to Vanellope's level, "Are you alright?"**_

_**Then the tears spilled over and Vanellope raced over to Lorain, hugging her arms around Lorain's neck. She sobbed into the crook of Lorain's neck and Lorain hugged her tightly. Vanellope never really opened up to anyone the way she did with Lorain.**_

"_**Why c-can't I leave the g-game…?" Vanellope sobbed.**_

"Vanellope can't leave the game…" Lorain said quietly, looking over at King Candy.

"When the game goes out of order…so will she," King Candy says sullenly.

Lorain looked down, rubbing her arm, "I'm sorry…"

"It's fine. You were just worried about your friend," King Candy replied and looked up at her, "Now come on, we better get going back to the castle. I have to deal with that monster."

"Right," Lorain nods and follows behind King Candy silently as they hop into their cars and head off toward the candy castle.

Once Lorain neared the castle she notice the rows and rows of Oreo guards out front. Her brow furrowed and she looked over at King Candy as she parked her car, "What's with the security, Turbo?"

"I told Bill to heighten security. More eyes to keep a look out for the gli-_Vanellope_." King Candy caught himself. Not wanting to make the licorice girl blow her top again.

"Oh…" Lorain looked around and hopped onto the back of King Candy's kart as he speeded off inside the castle's throne room.

When the two parked the kart, Wynnchel and Duncan had already rolled the taffy monster into the throne room and the taffy muffled out its angry voice.

The kart backed up into its parking space as part of the throne before King Candy jumped out of the kart, removing his goggles and helmet.

"De-taffy-fy this monster so we can see what we're up against here," King Candy says, waving his hands in the direction of the creature.

Lorain slid down the front of the kart, sitting on the hood and watching how Turbo would do under pressure. Sour Bill hopped up onto the cupcake that encased the monster and muttered un uneasy 'okay' before ripping the taffy off of the monster's head like it was a mask.

The monster screamed at the harsh feeling and it revealed-

"Milk my Duds! It's Wreck-it Ralph?" King Candy gasped, looking at the big man in shock.

"Yeah, who are you? The guy that makes the doughnuts?" Ralph asks rather angrily.

Lorain blinked at him, had Ralph never been to their game before?

"Hahahahaha please," King Candy laughed before cutting off abruptly, "No. Haha, I'm King Candy!"

Lorain smirked slightly; he always oversold it when meeting new people. He looked too happy. It was unnerving sometimes.

"I see you're a fan of pink," Ralph says, surveying his surroundings for the first time.

"Salmon," King Candy corrected immediately, "Salmon, that's obviously sal-" Then he realised Ralph had got him off topic and narrowed his eyes at the big man, a little flustered, "What are you doing here?"

"Look, your candyness, this is just a big misunderstanding. Just get me out of this cupcake, I'll get my medal and I'll be out of your way," Ralph says, being surprising reasonable.

"Your medal?" King Candy asks, Turbo's cocky attitude seeping through, "Bad guys don't win medals."

"Well this one did. I earned it over in Hero's Duty," Ralph responds, staring at the short man.

"You game jumped?" The smug look was wiped off of King Candy's face, "Ralph? You're not going Turbo, are you?"

Lorain felt herself jolt. It was weird hearing him use his own name in anger.

"What? No, no, no…" Ralph repeated quickly.

"Because if you think you can come in here, Haha, to my kingdom and take over my game, you've got another thing coming!" He spouted angrily.

"Easy, your puffiness. It's not my fault one of your children-of-the-candy-corn stole my medal," Ralph says, eyes narrowing.

Lorain let out a giggle, "I love candy corn."

"Children-of-the-candy-corn? Who would…" King Candy trailed off as realization dawned on him.

Lorain had the same moment of clarity, "Vanellope's coin."

"The glitch," King Candy turns and looks at Lorain in shock, "The coin she used to buy her way into the race," He turned back to Ralph, "That was your medal?"

"She did what?" Ralph says in shock, "I need that back!"

"Well I'm afraid I can't help you. It's gone you know. It's- it's nothing but code now!" King Candy blurts out.

"And it'll stay that way until someone wins the cup at the end of the race," Lorain says, standing up from her seat on King Candy's car and walking up to King Candy's side.

"Well maybe I'll just have to have a talk with the winner then," Ralph says, eyes narrowing at her.

Lorain was taken aback, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not even in that race. Don't look at me!"

King Candy looked over at Lorain and saw the shock on her face before turning to Ralph in anger.

"Is that a threat I smell?" King Candy snaps, glaring at Ralph, getting up in his face before he backed away in a coughing fit, "Beyond the halitosis you obviously suffer from."

"Listen Vanilla-Wafer," Ralph growls, obviously offended, "I'm not leaving without my medal!"

"Yes," King Candy smirks, "You are. Wynnchel, Duncan, get him out of that cupcake and on the first train back home. And if I ever see you back here again Wreck-It Ralph…hehehe…I'll lock you in my Fungeon." King Candy's fingers locked with each other menacingly.

Horrible memories flashed before Lorain's eyes from her time spent there before she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Fungeon?" Ralph asks in confusion.

"Fun dungeon? You know? It's a play on words. It's a fu-Never mind!" King Candy says, fixing his coat, "Now if you don't mind, I have a glitch to deal with, thanks to you."

With that, King Candy ushered for Lorain to follow him as he marched away with the Oreo guards toward his kart.

Lorain sent Ralph an uneasy glance and followed King Candy immediately, hoping in his kart with him. King Candy sent Ralph a glare as he started his kart, "Goodbye Wreck-It Ralph. It hasn't been a pleasure." And with that, King Candy started his kart and drove away with Lorain right beside him.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I've been busy with exams and then I started work and it's just been blah! So yeah, sorry again for the wait again and I hope you enjoyed.**


	27. I Came To Stop You!

Lorain sat with King Candy down by the racing track, he wanted to look for clues as to see where Vanellope could have ran off too. Lorain nibbled on her bottom lip, having a pretty good idea where the girl could be but she wasn't quite sure that Vanellope racing was such a bad thing.

"Where could she have gone…?" King Candy mutters, looking around the reconstructed bleachers.

Lorain opened her mouth to say something when loud yelling interrupts her.

They both turn to see Wynnchel and Duncan taking off down the hill with the devil dogs. King Candy glared at them, clearly unamused, "Oh what now? I don't have time for this!"

"I'll go check it out," Lorain smiles widely, jumping out of King Candy's kart.

"Would you?" He turns to her happily, "That would save me so much time!"

"Hey, no problem," Lorain smiles, "I'm here for you when you need me."

"Thanks toots," King Candy smirked, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before going back to searching for clues.

Lorain blushed slightly and remembered her task, taking off in the direction the police went but once she arrived at the chocolate river the policeman's tracks split in two different directions. She sat there, puzzled momentarily until movement in the pond caught her eye and Wreck-It Ralph emerged from the melted chocolate.

"Chocolate! I hate chocolate!" Ralph snaps, climbing out of the chocolate river and onto the cocoa shore.

Lorain blinked, looking up and down the river in hopes of seeing the police but when she saw none she took off after Ralph, silently following behind him as he walked closer and closer to one of the back roads.

"Now to get my medal back…" Ralph mutters to himself just as the other racers drive past him. Then Ralph gets an idea, "The pot goes to the winning racer! Hey Kids! Can I talk to you for a second!?"

"More running, really?" Lorain muttered, fixing her goggles as she raced after Ralph who began following the racers towards the junkyard. Then suddenly he stops and Lorain runs right into him. So much for stealthy…

"What? Oh, it's the king's girlfriend," Ralph says, looking down at her.

"Not his girlfriend," Lorain says quickly, pushing herself up onto her feet and brushing herself off.

Ralph continued to stare at her, ignoring her question, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I came to stop you!" Lorain says happily, hand on her hips.

Ralph raises an eyebrow at her, staring down at the girl that was nearly four feet shorter than him, "Really?"

"Yeah…didn't really think this through…" Her brow furrows and she taps her chin with her finger.

"Hello fellow racers!"

"Vanellope…?" Lorain's eyes widen as she looks past Ralph and down into the junkyard where the other racers had circled Vanellope, "Oh no…"

"It's that little crumb snatcher," Ralph says angrily.

Vanellope smiled brightly at them, "Hello Candlehead, Taffyta, Rancis, you're looking well. Came by to check out the competition, huh? Well here it is, the Lickety-Split!"

"Sheesh, Looks like she built it herself," Ralph says in disgust. Lorain elbowed him and sent him a glare.

"Built it myself," Vanellope says proudly, "Fastest pedal power west of the whack-a-mole! Check her out!" She hops into the kart, giving a small demonstration and honking the little horn.

"Oh Vanellope. It's so…you. But you have to back out of the race…" Taffyta lick her lollypop before staring dully at Vanellope, "Yeah."

"Oh no, I…I don't. Cause you know," Vanellope hopped out of the car and walked over to Taffyta smugly, "I paid my fee and I'm the board so yeah, I'm definitely racing."

"Yeah well King Candy says that glitches can't race," Taffyta says, crossing her arms.

"I'm not a glitch, Taffyta. I've just got Pixlexia, kay?" Vanellope says, glitching slightly to the left.

"The rules are there for a reason, Vanellope, to protect us!" Taffyta says, walking over to Vanellope's kart and hopping in, "Say I'm you. I'm in my weird little car and I'm driving and I actually feel kinda cool for once and then all of a sudden, 'Oh no! I'm gli-gli-gli-gli-lgi-gli-gli-glitching!" Taffyta then proceeds to break off Vanellope's steering wheel.

"Hey!" Vanellope yells.

Lorain's eyes widened, "What is wrong with them?"

"See? You're an accident just waiting to happen!" Taffyta scoffs, throwing the wheel at Vanellope like it was a Frisbee.

"Oh no! I gli-gli-gli-glitched too!" Jubileena says, walking over shakily and smashing the hood.

The others join in, all swinging their arms, kicking and punching kart. Breaking off more and more pieces.

"Uncool…" Ralph says with a frown.

"What are you waiting for? Do something!" Lorain snapped at him.

"Stop! You're breaking it! Please! I just wanna race like you guys!" Vanellope says, pulling Taffyta off her kart.

"You will never be a racer!" Taffyta snaps, stalking up to Vanellope, "Because you're a glitch! And that's all you'll ever be!" Taffyta halls back and shoves Vanellope, the little girl falling face first into a chocolate puddle.

"Hey!" Lorain yells, jumping to her feet.

"Leave her alone!" Ralph yells which surprises her. The two of them rushed over the edge of the track and raced towards the racers.

When the nine year olds noticed them they panicked, screaming and jumping into their karts and driving away.

"Scram you rotten little cavities!" Ralph yells after them as Lorain walks over to Vanellope's side, "I'll throw YOU in the mud!"

The licorice girl extends a hand towards the girl band Vanellope taking it, getting to her feet. Vanellope brushes the mud off and her eyes slowly trail over to where Ralph was watching her. The little racer glares at him, "What are you looking at?"

"You're welcome, you rotten little thief," Ralph snorts, stalking over to her.

"I'm not a thief," Vanellope snaps, getting down on her hands and knees in front of the remains of the lickety-split, "I just borrowed your stupid coin. I was gonna give it back to you as soon as I won the race."

"Oops…my bad," Lorain bites her finger and looks up at Ralph, "I may have told her to take anything she could use as a coin so she could buy her way into the race…"

"You what?" Ralph's eyes widen at her.

"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't think you'd be in here, meathead. Calm down," Lorain gestures at him irritably.

Ralph simply glares at her.

"It was just a coin," Vanellope mutters.

"It's not a coin. It is a medal," Ralph snaps.

"Coin. Medal. Whatever. Just go back to your own dumb game and win another one," Vanellope rolls her eyes, picking up pieces of her kart before discarding them.

"I can't. I didn't win it in my game. I won it in Hero's Duty!" Ralph says, pointing towards the exit of the game.

Vanellope glitches and looks up at him with a smirk, "Hero's duty…?" The little racer snickers.

"It's not that kind of duty," The wrecker snaps.

"I bet you really gotta watch where you step in a game called hero's duty! Haha!" Vanellope laughs, "What you win the medal for? Wiping?"

Lorain covers her mouth with her hands as she giggles.

"I hope you washed your HANDS after handling that medal!" Vanellope grins.

"Listen-" Ralph starts but Vanellope cuts him off.

"One more! One more…okay? Why did the hero flush the toilet?" Vanellope asks before gesturing towards him anxiously, "Say why."

Ralph looks displeased before stiffly saying, "…why?"

"Because it was his duty!" Vanellope laughs.

"How dare you insult Hero's Duty like that, you little guttersnipe!" Ralph snaps, "I earned that medal! And you better get it back for me, toot-sweet sister!"

"Well unless you've got a go-kart hidden in the fat-folds of your neck I can't help you!" Vanellope yells.

"She's right you know," I smirk.

Ralph glares at Vanellope and growls as if he was trying to restrain himself from hitting her before running over and shattering a few lolly pop trees before raising a fist and punching a large white rock but it didn't shatter.

I smirk, "Dude, it's called a jawbreaker for a reason."

Ralph continues punching it angrily.

"What a moron," Vanellope mutters before calling, "Hey genius! It's a jawbreaker! You're never gonna brea-"

Vanellope was cut off when the jawbreaker split clean in half.

"Huh…" Vanellope stares at him in shock.

I look down at Vanellope who stares back in shock before we walk cautiously towards Ralph.

"Enjoy your little tantrum, Diaper Baby?" Vanellope asks, leaning against another jawbreaker as Ralph sits down in exhaustion.

"Leave me alone," Ralph says, still panting.

"Look…you want that medal, right? And I wanna race…" Vanellope says, stepping up on top of one of the jaw breakers, "So here's what I'm thinking. You help me get a kart." Vanellope says before pointing at him, "A _**real**_ kart. And I'll win the race and get you back your medal."

Ralph looks at her in shock, "You want _**me**_ to help _**you**_?"

"All you gotta do is break something for me," Vanellope says with a grin, holding out her arm to him, "C'mon! What do you say, _friend_?"

"We are not friends," Ralph says stiffly.

"Aaaawww, c'mon pal! You son-of-a-gun! C'mon Buddy! Shake on it!" Vanellope waves her hand out at him anxiously.

Ralph glares at her.

"Aw, c'mon Chumbo! Ralph ma man! Ma main man!" Vanellope smiles before her face drops to a grimace and she uses her hand to prop the other arm up, "Hey. My arm's getting tired. We got a deal or what?"

The wrecker looks hesitant before he growls and gets to his feet, "You better win!" Then he gingerly shakes the little racer's hand.

_**A/N: Ah! I am sorry my dear friends. So many things have been going on. I'm in like all advanced classes in high school this year so I have like a shitload of homework.**_

_**Turbo: Excuses, excuses. Shame on you.**_

_**Me: I said I was sorry.**_

_**Turbo: Not good enough, Toots. Give em' something to stick around for.**_

_**Me: How about another update within the next week?**_

_**Turbo: I'm listening.**_

_**Me: Two updates?**_

_**Turbo: That's more like it, Toots.**_

_**Me: Once again, sorry for the lack of updates. There should be two more updates up by this time next week if I get my ass in gear. Cross your fingers, guys.**_


	28. Do I Trust You

As the three began on their journey to get Vanellope a new kart Ralph seemed displeased to say the least.

"C'mon, lighten up Ralph," Lorain smiles, nudging him with her elbow.

"Who are you again?" Ralph asks, raising an eyebrow at her, "I, my dear friend, am Lorain Licorice-Twist. One of the daring Licorice-Twins who-"

"Yeah, don't care," Ralph cuts her off as he ducks under a lollypop tree.

Lorain's smile droops as she looks up at him, "Are you mad about something? Cause I think you are, but that doesn't mean you can take your anger out on me." They three come to a stop twenty feet away from the entrance to the Kart Bakery.

"Listen, Lorain, was it?" Ralph says turning to her, "I don't care if you're the first lady or whatever. That's great for you, but the only reason I'm even in this game is to get my medal back. Then I'm gone. So I suggest you just give me some space while we're in here, cause I have a feeling that if you and your uppity little attitude stay this close to me all day, that you're going to get game over more times than you can count!" He raises a hand threateningly.

"Hey!" Vanellope glitched in front of Lorain protectively, "Stop that, Ham Hands!"

Ralph looked at her before looking at his raised fist and closing his eyes, sighing as he lowered his hands, "Look, I'm sorry, Lorain. It's just….that medal means a lot to me and I really need to get it back."

The licorice racer smiles weakly up at him and places a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, Ralph. But…I think it would be best if you and Vanellope went on this little quest alone, okay? It would probably be a good idea if one of us stayed behind anyway, right? You know? Keep King Candy off your scent so you guys can get this done quickly."

Vanellope looks up at Lorain in sudden sadness, "But you said-"

"I know what I said but now that I think about it, it's a good idea for someone to stay behind and keep King Candy busy. He's out here hunting for you, Vanellope. I need to keep him away long enough for you to get that Kart."

"Okay…" Vanellope says with a sigh, "Just meet us at my house after we get the kart…okay?"

"Of course," Lorain smiles and kisses Vanellope on the forehead before she looks up at Ralph and pats him on the shoulder once, "I'll see you later than, Hm?"

He gives a nod and Lorain takes off back towards the castle where she knew King Candy must be.

The licorice racer pushes open the doors to the castle, looking around, "Yo, King C? You in here?"

"Hello, Lorain…"

Lorain jumps and looks down at her feet at Sour Bill, "Bill? Where's King Candy?"

"In the garage working on his kart I think…" Sour Bill says slowly.

"Alright, thanks Bill," Lorain goes to walk past him but Bill grabs her leg.

"You can't leave yet. Someone wants to talk to you," Bill says looking up at her.

"Who?" Lorain asks, as Sour Bill releases her leg and looks towards the throne. She looks in the same direction and sees Landon picking away at the throne as she had once done. She locks her jaw, "What are you doing here, Brother?"

He looks over at her and gets to his feet, brushing off his pants, "Alright, Lorain, now I just want you to keep an open mind-"

"To hell with that!" Lorain snaps, "What do you want?"

"I want you to know the truth," Landon says, intertwining his fingers with each other, "First of all…I want to tell you how sorry I am."

Lorain suddenly went very pale, "…What did you do…?"

"In the beginning I was jealous…of how you were always better than me. Of how much more popular you were than me. Every single one of those kids that entered that cheat code...they all picked you, Lorain. That's why for the last few years I've hated you and…"

"What did you do, Landon?" Lorain nearly wailed.

"I-I…" Landon looked down at his feet and clenched his eyes closed.

"Landon!" Lorain yelled.

"…I messed with your coding…"

Lorain dropped to her knees. When she forgot about Vanellope…that was him. He had found the code room and messed with her coding. Those gaps in her memory were his doing. But when he realised the images of Vanellope were being replaced with King Candy he panicked and must have put them back, thinking she would flip out at King Candy for deceiving her. When it didn't go his way Landon must have tried to convince her otherwise by coming to the castle and telling her himself that King Candy was no good for her…

"It was you…a-all this time…" Lorain stared with empty eyes at her brother.

Landon cringed at her and sucked in a breath, "I'm so sorry, Lori. I-"

"Get out! Get out of this castle! Get out of my life! I hate you!" Lorain cried, tears stinging her eyes, "I hate you!"

Her brother was startled at her sudden outburst, "L-Lori…"

"No! Get out!" Lorain pointed at the door, "Get away from me before you fudge up my life even more than you already have! I don't know what's true or not anymore! Just get out!"

Landon shook but slowly walked towards the castle doors and opened them at the same time.

"I'm sorry…Sister…"

Then he was gone.

Lorain hugged herself tightly as she shakily got to her feet and began to walk towards the garage at the end of the hallway. As she walked she began to pull herself back together. This wasn't the time to be all emotional. She had to stay focused on her simple task. Keep King Candy busy long enough for Vanellope to make her kart.

She paused outside of the garage door and took a few moments to recompose herself. Then she closed her eyes and took one last breath before opening the door. There was a flow of rock music coming from a radio on one of the work benches and a pair or white and red striped legs poked out from under the kart, one foot tapping along to the music.

Lorain couldn't help but smile as she walked over and stood over his legs. She quietly hopped up into the kart and sat in the driver seat before she raised a hand and pushed it down on the horn. The horn blared and she heard a bang underneath the kart and bit her lip.

A very startled Turbo rolled out from under the kart and jumped to his feet, spinning around and facing Lorain in fright and anger. As soon as he saw her he let out a relieved sigh and glared at her, "You nearly gave me a heart attack, Toots."

"You're not in disguise," Lorain smirks, sitting on the back of the seat, "Someone could come in and see you, you know."

He looked at her for a moment, his suit was unzipped halfway down and hung around his hips. He wore a dark grey tank top underneath and had a good amount of grease on his upper body. "I know," Turbo says, looking at the car she sat in with a small smile on his face.

She looked down and blinked, "Is this…what I think it is…?"

He smiled and gave a simple nod, "My old car from Turbo Time."

"Aren't you afraid someone will see you working on it in here?" Lorain questioned, running her hands over the steering wheel.

Turbo shook his head, "No. Sour Bill knows that no one is to come in here while I'm working."

"Then why did he let me in here?" Lorain asks, looking over at him.

"I trust you," Turbo says simply, wiping the grease off his hands with a rag, "And you already know who I really am so there's no point to hide from you."

"Hm…" Lorain hums and looks over at the radio, "I didn't picture 'King Candy' as one for liking rock and roll."

"He's not," he smirks, before tossing the rag onto the ground, "But Turbo is."

She laughed slightly at this and pushed a red curl behind her ear.

"I forgot to ask, what was it that Wynnchel and Duncan got so worked up about?" Turbo asks, fixing the gloves on his hands.

"Nothing really, just Wynnchel and Duncan being…Wynnchel and Duncan," Lorain laughed.

Turbo chuckled and ran a hand through his sweaty black hair. He looked over at her as he wiped the grease off his face with the back of his hand, "You know, I think I'm gonna head out and try to find the glitch." Lorain blinked before she jumped out of the car.

"You can't leave yet!" She blurted out.

He turned to her in confusion, "Why not?"

"Because…Because…" Lorain glanced around the room for an excuse before she collapsed backwards into the front seat of his car, legs hanging over the door.

Lorain peeked one of her eyes open to see a confused Turbo looming over her, "What are you doing?"

"I suddenly feel lightheaded," Lorain touched her hand to her forehead before grabbing his hand and pushed it against her face, "To I feel warm to you?"

"Lori, I'm wearing gloves," he smirks down at her, "And now you have grease on your face."

"I do?" Lorain furrows her brow and pushes his hand back, trying to see her forehead and failing.

Turbo laughs and slips off his gloves, "Here, I'll get it." He uses one hand to cup the back of her neck and raise her face closer to his while the other hand wiped the black grease from her forehead. He looked down at her, "There. All gone…"

Lorain stared up at him, biting her lip as she thought of another way to distract him from looking for Vanellope. Then she paused and her eyes flew to his lips as an idea bloomed in her mind. But before she could put her plan into action Turbo did it for her. Lorain closed her eyes as he kissed her, her arms sliding around his neck as she hugged him close to her. The scent of oil and dirt filled her nose, something completely different from what she was used to smelling in this game. Lorain smiled against his lips, fingers running through his hair.

"Sir!"

Both jumped and Turbo turned angrily towards the door where the voice came from, "What!? I'm busy!"

"It's the glitch! She's in the kart bakery!" Sour Bill said with an unusual urgency.

"What?!" Turbo jumped to his feet and spun to face the door.

Lorain watched him glitch into his King Candy and rush out of the room. She groaned, closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the seat, "Fudge…"

"Hey."

Lorain jumped, looking up as King Candy held out a hand to her.

"You coming, Toots?" He asked. She nodded and grabbed his hand, pulling herself upright as King Candy places a hand on the car, glitching it so it looked like his kart used in the on screen races. He hops in beside her and pulls on a seatbelt, looking over at her, "All set?"

"Uh huh," Lorain says as the garage door opens.

"Let's go get that glitch," King Candy smirks and the car roars to life.


End file.
